{{Short description|International currency}} {{Infobox currency |currency_name_in_local= |image_1=1 Spesmilo.png |image_title_1 =1₷ coin |symbol=₷ <!-- |unit=spesmilo ? --> |plural=spesmiloj |obsolete =yes
}}
The '''''spesmilo''''' ({{IPA|eo|spesˈmilo|pron}}, plural '''''spesmiloj''''' {{IPA|eo|spesˈmiloi̯|}}) is an obsolete decimal international currency, proposed in 1907 by René de Saussure and used before World War I by a few British and Swiss banks, primarily the Ĉekbanko Esperantista.
The ''spesmilo'' was equivalent to one thousand ''spesoj'', and worth {{convert|0.733|g|oz}} of pure gold (0.8 grams of 22 karat gold), which at the time was about one-half United States dollar, two shillings (one-tenth of a pound sterling) in Britain, one Russian ruble, or {{frac|2|1|2}} Swiss francs.
The basic unit, the ''speso'' (from Italian ''spesa'' or German ''Spesen'';<ref>{{cite book |last=Cherpillod |first=André |year=2007 |title=Konciza Etimologia Vortaro |publisher=Universala Esperanto-Asocio |pages=432 |isbn=9789290170822 |language=Esperanto}}</ref> ''spesmilo'' is Esperanto for "a thousand pennies"), was purposely made very small to avoid fractions.
==Sign== thumb|right|upright=0.3|Spesmilo sign {{angbr|₷}}
The ''spesmilo'' sign, called ''{{lang|eo|spesmilsigno}}'' in Esperanto, is a monogram of a cursive capital "S", from whose tail emerges an "m".<ref>[http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n3390.pdf Proposal to encode the Esperanto SPESMILO SIGN in the UCS] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604033643/http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n3390.pdf |date=2011-06-04 }}, by Michael Everson</ref> The currency sign is often typeset as the separate letters ''Sm''.<ref>[http://www.usns.info/pdf/Aust_Coin_&_Banknote_USNS_002_092005.pdf Esperanto and the Dream of a World Currency] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926003932/http://www.usns.info/pdf/Aust_Coin_%26_Banknote_USNS_002_092005.pdf |date=2007-09-26 }}</ref>
In Unicode, the character is assigned {{unichar|20B7|Spesmilo sign |html=}}<ref>[https://www.unicode.org/alloc/Pipeline.html Proposed New Characters – Pipeline Table<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> in version 5.2.<ref>Andrew West, [https://babelstone.blogspot.com/2008/04/whats-new-in-unicode-52.html BabelStone: What's new in Unicode 5.2?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091005004505/http://babelstone.blogspot.com/2008/04/whats-new-in-unicode-52.html |date=2009-10-05 }}</ref>
==Miscellaneous== * The ''stelo'' was another currency unit used by the {{ill|Universal League|eo|Universala Ligo}} from 1942 to the 1990s. * An Esperanto version of the board game Monopoly uses play money in denominations of ''spesmiloj''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://eo.wikibooks.org/wiki/Monopolo|title=Monopolo|website=Vikilibroj|lang=eo}}</ref>
==References== <references />
==External links== {{wiktionary}} * [http://www.eventoj.hu/arkivo/eve-050.htm "''Streboj al internacia mono''"] {{in lang|eo}} * [http://worldcoingallery.com/countries/Esperanto.html Images of Stelo coins] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070926003932/http://www.usns.info/pdf/Aust_Coin_%26_Banknote_USNS_002_092005.pdf ACBN Article about Esperanto coins]
{{Portal|Money|Numismatics}}
{{currency signs}}
Category:Modern obsolete currencies Category:Esperanto culture Category:Currency symbols Category:Alternative currencies Category:Currencies introduced in 1907 Category:Currencies of Europe