Lira

Lira (sign: ₤, £, or L; plural: lire) is the name of the monetary unit of a number of countries, as well as the former currency of Italy, Malta, San Marino, Syria, Lebanon and the Vatican City (replaced in 2002 with the euro) and Israel. The term originates from the value of a Troy pound (Latin libra) 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 so-called £sd (librae, solidi, denarii).