Aspers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Former Ottoman and Turkish coins of small denomination, historically used as standard currency in the region
2. Small coins that circulated as money in the Ottoman Empire and Turkey before modern coinage systems were adopted
3. Coins of low value that served as the basic monetary units in Ottoman and Turkish economies historically

Etymology: "Aspers" is the plural of "asper," a small silver coin once used in the Ottoman Empire. Europeans applied the name to the Ottoman "akçe," a coin that was not called an asper by its own users. The name comes from Greek "áspron," the neuter form of "áspros," meaning "white," a reference to the silver metal. Byzantine Greek used it for silver coins, and Italian traders later passed it on as "aspro," which reached English through European trade contacts with the Levant.