Piaster n. A silver coin of Spain and various other countries. See Peso. The Spanish piaster (commonly called peso, or peso duro) is of about the value of the American dollar. The Italian piaster, or scudo, was worth from 80 to 100 cents. The Turkish and Egyptian piasters are now worth about four and a half cents.
... a beit of her own, and rugs, too, and jars full of provision. But now she is a tenant. And her husband, ever since he emigrated to America, did not send a single piaster or even write a letter. From necessity she becomes a prey of usurers; for those Lebanon Moths, of which we saw a specimen in the village of bells and potteries, fall mostly in the wardrobe of women. ... — The Book of Khalid • Ameen Rihani
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