# Pistole

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This article is about a coin. For other uses, see [Pistol (disambiguation)](/source/Pistol_(disambiguation)).

**Pistole** is the French name given to a [Spanish](/source/Spain) gold [coin](/source/Coin) in use from 1537; it was a [doubloon](/source/Doubloon) or double [escudo](/source/Spanish_escudo), the gold unit. The name was also given to the [Louis d'Or](/source/Louis_d'Or) of [Louis XIII](/source/Louis_XIII) of France, and to other European gold coins of about the value of the Spanish coin.[1] One pistole was worth approximately ten [livres](/source/French_livre) or three [écus](/source/%C3%89cus), but higher figures are also seen.[2] The derivation is uncertain; the term may come from the [Czech](/source/Czech_language) *píšťala* ("whistle", a term for a [hand cannon](/source/Hand_cannon)), or from the Italian town of [Pistoia](/source/Pistoia); either way, it was originally spelled *pistolet* and originated in military slang, and probably has the same root as [pistol](/source/Pistol).[3][4][5]

A small number of gold pistoles and double pistoles were minted in [Ireland](/source/Ireland) in 1646, during the [Irish Confederate Wars](/source/Irish_Confederate_Wars) and the reign of [Charles I](/source/Charles_I_of_England). [James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond](/source/James_Butler,_1st_Duke_of_Ormond) authorised the issue in order to prevent troop defections, as there was a shortage of [silver](/source/Silver) coins for paying soldiers. The coins had an approximate value of 13 shillings (26 s. for the double pistole); they are today worth over £65,000, as only eleven examples are known to survive.[6][7] They are the only gold coins ever struck in Ireland, except for a small number of [proof](/source/Proof_coinage) and [ECU](/source/European_Currency_Unit) issues.[8] The pistole weighed 103 grains (6.67 grams; 0.215 troy oz) while the double pistole was 206 grains (13.35 grams; 0.429 troy oz); the fineness was 19 [karat](/source/Fineness).[9] The coins (also called "pieces" or "pledges") did not bear any royal symbols, simply their weight (4 dwt 7 gr, or 8 dwt 14 gr) on both sides.[10]

[A coin with this name](/source/Pistole_(Scottish_coin)) was minted in [Scotland](/source/Scotland) in 1701, under [William III](/source/William_III_of_England), with a weight of 106 grains (c. 6.84 g) and a value of 12 [pounds Scots](/source/Pound_Scots).[11]

The coin appears repeatedly in [Dumas'](/source/Alexandre_Dumas) fiction. He has his character state, in *[The Three Musketeers](/source/The_Three_Musketeers)* set in the 1620s, that one hundred pistoles were worth a thousand [livres tournois](/source/Livres_tournois) when Athos bargains for the horse he takes to the battle of La Rochelle.[12]

It was also referred to by [Raphael Sabatini](/source/Raphael_Sabatini); who wrote 'swashbuckling' tales of the 17th and 18th centuries; in his book, *St Martin's Summer.*

The coin gave its name to the town of [Trois-Pistoles](/source/Trois-Pistoles), [Quebec](/source/Quebec), where according to local legend an explorer lost a goblet worth three pistoles in the river.[13]

## In Germany

See also: [Friedrich d'or](/source/Friedrich_d'or)

[Frederick the Great](/source/Frederick_the_Great) issued the Friedrich d'or pistole of 5 thalers in 1741 while the gold-silver price ratio of 14.5 was low, making it cheaper to reissue the thaler currency in gold. At 6.05 g fine gold per pistole, each thaler was worth 1.21g fine gold & 1.21 x14.5 = 17.545 g fine silver, cheaper than the prevailing standard of 19.488 g fine silver per thaler. The different North German states followed minting the 5-thaler pistole under their rulers' names (August-, Friedrich-August- or Christian d'or).

Its standard varied slightly; at best 35 to a Cologne Mark of gold 130/144 fine, or 6.032 g fine gold; and at worst 351⁄6 to a Mark 129/144 fine, or 5.957 g fine gold. The North German pistole was minted from 1741 to 1855.

## Notes

1. Stanley, J.; Newton, Isaac; Ellis, John (7 July 1702). [*Select Tracts and Documents Illustrative of English Monetary History 1626-1730*](http://www.pierre-marteau.com/editions/1701-25-mint-reports/report-1702-07-17.html) [Report of the Officers of the Mint about the Preservation of the Coyne]. London: Wilsons & Milne. pp. 136–139. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20211226074824/http://www.pierre-marteau.com/editions/1701-25-mint-reports/report-1702-07-17.html) 2021-12-26 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2013-10-28.

1. Brachet, Auguste (April 8, 1878). ["An Etymological Dictionary of the French Language"](https://books.google.com/books?id=r-0IAAAAQAAJ&q=pistole+etymology&pg=PA297). Clarendon Press. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20230114130152/https://books.google.com/books?id=r-0IAAAAQAAJ&q=pistole+etymology&pg=PA297) January 14, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 14, 2023. – via Google Books.

1. Weekley, Ernest (July 18, 2012). [*An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English*](https://books.google.com/books?id=VigsBojU2c4C&q=pistole+etymology&pg=PT35). Courier Corporation. ISBN 9780486122861. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20230114130130/https://books.google.com/books?id=VigsBojU2c4C&q=pistole+etymology&pg=PT35) January 14, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 14, 2023. – via Google Books.

1. [*Concise English Dictionary*](https://books.google.com/books?id=qYHPuEwaBswC&q=czech++pistole+coin&pg=PA700). Wordsworth Editions. July 5, 1993. ISBN 9781840224979. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20230114130130/https://books.google.com/books?id=qYHPuEwaBswC&q=czech++pistole+coin&pg=PA700) January 14, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 14, 2023. – via Google Books.

1. ["Lot 275, Coins, Tokens and Historical Medals (15 - 18 September 2015) - Dix Noonan Webb"](https://www.dnw.co.uk/auction-archive/past-catalogues/lot.php?auction_id=338&lot_id=266636). *www.dnw.co.uk*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20230114130128/https://www.noonans.co.uk/auctions/archive/past-catalogues/338/catalogue/) 14 January 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 14 January 2023.

1. ["Ormonde pistole to sell for ?117,000 at auction"](https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/ormonde-pistole-to-sell-for-117000-at-auction-26405273.html). *Independent.ie*. 21 January 2006. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20211226074822/https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/ormonde-pistole-to-sell-for-117000-at-auction-26405273.html) 2021-12-26 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-01-14.

1. ["The Great Rebellion and the English Civil War (1640-1650)"](http://www.irishcoinage.com/ORMOND.HTM). *www.irishcoinage.com*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20211226074825/http://www.irishcoinage.com/ORMOND.HTM) 2021-12-26 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-01-14.

1. ["A note on the weight and fineness of the 1646 ormonde 'pistole'"](https://www.britnumsoc.org/publications/Digital%20BNJ/pdfs/1966_BNJ_35_15.pdf). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20221106120534/http://www.britnumsoc.org/publications/Digital%20BNJ/pdfs/1966_BNJ_35_15.pdf) 2022-11-06 at the Wayback Machine.

1. ["The extant ormonde pistoles and double pistoles of 1646"](https://www.britnumsoc.org/publications/Digital%20BNJ/pdfs/1973_BNJ_43_7.pdf). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20221106101445/http://www.britnumsoc.org/publications/Digital%20BNJ/pdfs/1973_BNJ_43_7.pdf) 2022-11-06 at the Wayback Machine.

1. I. Stewart: *Scottish Coinage*

1. GF Flammarion edition, p. 396

1. ["Fiche descriptive"](http://www.toponymie.gouv.qc.ca/ct/toposweb/fiche.aspx?no_seq=63797). *www.toponymie.gouv.qc.ca*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20110610151504/http://www.toponymie.gouv.qc.ca/ct/toposweb/fiche.aspx?no_seq=63797) 2011-06-10 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2009-12-31.

## External links

- [The American student's guide (to currency conversion) 1834](https://archive.org/details/americanstudent01alfrgoog/page/n220)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Pistole](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pistole) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pistole?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.