Lira

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Lira" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (June 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

100 Italian lira (1979, FAO celebration)
Obverse: Young woman with braid facing left and Repubblica Italiana [Italian Republic] written in Italian.	Reverse: Cow nursing calf, face value & date. FAO at bottom and Nutrire il Mondo [Feed the world] at top.
Coin minted by Italy in 1970s to celebrate and promote the Food and Agriculture Organization.

1 Turkish lira (2009)
	Obverse: Mustafa Kemal Atatürk with TÜRKİYE CUMHURİYETİ [Republic of Turkey] lettering

1 Italian lira (1863)
Obverse: Victor Emmanuel II	Reverse: Coat of arms of the House of Savoy

10 Turkish lira (1986)
Obverse: Mustafa Kemal Atatürk with TÜRKİYE CUMHURİYETİ lettering	Reverse: Face value and year within wreath, crescent moon and star at the top. Crescent opens right. Also an olive branch for symbol of peace and ear for Anatolia.

Lira is the name of several currency units. It is the current currency of Turkey and also the local name of the currencies of Lebanon and of Syria. It is also the name of several former currencies, including those of Italy, Malta and Israel. The term originates from the value of a Roman pound (Latin: libra, about 329g, 10.58 troy ounces) of high purity silver. The libra was the basis of the monetary system of the Roman Empire. When Europe resumed a monetary system, during the Carolingian Empire, the Roman system was adopted. The Roman denominations librae, solidi, denarii were used (becoming known in England as £sd).

Specifically, this system was kept during the Middle Ages and Modern Age in England, France, and Italy. In each of these countries the libra was translated into local language: pound in England, livre in France, lira in Italy. The Venetian lira was one of the currencies in use in Italy and due to the economic power of the Venetian Republic a popular currency in the Eastern Mediterranean trade.

During the 19th century, the Ottoman Empire and the Eyalet of Egypt adopted the lira as their national currency, equivalent to 100 piasters or kuruş. When the Ottoman Empire collapsed between 1918 and 1922, many of the successor states retained the lira as their national currency. In some countries, such as Cyprus, which have belonged to both the Ottoman Empire and the British Empire, the words lira and pound are used interchangeably.