Daily entries from the 17th century London diary
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Pistole is the French name given to a Spanish gold coin in use in 1537; it was a double escudo, the gold unit. The name was also given to the Louis d'Or of Louis XIII of France, and to other European gold coins of about the value of the Spanish coin. One pistole was worth approximately ten livres.
In Dumas' The Three Musketeers, set in the 1620s, we learn that thirty-five pistoles and twenty crowns make 465 livres. (Penguin classics edition p.368)
A coin with this name was minted in Scotland in 1701, under William II, with a weight of 106 grains (6.84g ca.) and a value of 12 scottish pounds. [1]
pistole
SYLLABICATION: pis·tole
PRONUNCIATION: p-stol
NOUN: 1. A gold coin equal to two escudos, formerly used in Spain. 2. Any of several gold coins used in various European countries until the late 19th century.
ETYMOLOGY: French, back-formation from pistolet, diminutive of pistole, pistol. See pistol.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. http://www.bartleby.com/61/18/P0331800.html
OED:
A name formerly applied to certain foreign gold coins; … spec., from c1600, given to a Spanish gold coin worth from 16s. 6d. to 18s.; also applied (after French) to the louis d’or of Louis XIII, issued in 1640…
OED etymology:
from French pistole the coin, app. shortened from pistolet. The coin was not known by any corresponding name in Spain or Italy.