1. Origins

The word piastre comes from the Italian piastra – a large silver coin used in the 16th–17th centuries.
It became the name for the Spanish piece of eight – the coin that turned into the world’s first truly global trading currency.

2. The Ottoman Empire

In Turkey and across the Ottoman Empire, the piastre (kuruş) was the main currency from the 17th century.
It circulated in Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, and the Balkans.
It was a symbol of central authority – ordinary people had to use it, but had no power over it.

3. Colonial Africa and the Middle East

→ Egypt – from the 19th century, the piastre (ersh) served as a monetary unit, still today a subdivision of the Egyptian pound.
→ Sudan – the Sudanese pound was divided into 100 piastres.
→ Palestine – under the British Mandate, the Palestinian pound was divided into 100 piastres.
→ Lebanon and Syria – the piastre (qirsh) under the French Mandate, still present in the naming of their currencies.

4. Colonial Asia

In Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, the piastre de commerce was introduced by the French as the colonial currency of Indochina.
It was used to extract silver from the colonies back to France – a clear symbol of colonial exploitation.

5. America and Europe

→ Canada (Quebec) – piastre was the French word for the dollar.
→ France – up to the 20th century, piastre was a colloquial name for any dollar (e.g. piastre américaine).

Piastre was present everywhere empires wanted to impose their power: in Palestine, Egypt, Sudan, Syria, Lebanon, Indochina.
It was a symbol of dependency – the currency of rulers, not of the people.

Today, we reclaim its name. The new Piastre is not a colonial tool.
It is a system that belongs to the community, not to the empire.

From colony to freedom.