The rial (french: rial sebili) or piastre was the currency of

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

until 1891. It was subdivided into 16 (), each of 13 (). The was further subdivided into 6 (). The () was worth 2 . The denomination was often either not given on coins or only indicated by a numeral. Some rial denominated coins have a numeral over the Arabic letter r, ر.

History

The rial was issued by the

Beys of Tunis The beys of Tunis were the monarchs of Tunisia from 1705, when the Husainid dynasty acceded to the throne, until 1957, when monarchy was abolished. History The Husainid dynasty, originally of Cretan Turkish origin, came to power under Al-Husa ...

. Although known as the piastre by Europeans, it was not equal to the

Turkish kuruş Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

, also known as the piastre. From 1855, the rial was on a bimetallic standard of 1 rial = 0.17716 grams pure gold or 2.7873 grams pure silver. In 1887, the gold content of the 25 rial coin was slightly reduced to make it equivalent to 15

French franc The franc (, ; sign: F or Fr), also commonly distinguished as the (FF), was a currency of France. Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money. It w ...

s. In 1891, this conversion rate (more conveniently expressed as 1 rial = 60 centimes) was used when the

Tunisian franc The franc ( French, ar, فرنك) was the currency of Tunisia between 1891 and 1958. It was divided into 100 centimes (صنتيم) and was equivalent to the French franc. History The franc replaced the rial in 1891 at the rate of 1 rial = 60 cen ...

replaced the rial.

Coins

In the early 19th century, copper 1 fals coins were issued, together with billon 1 nasri, 1, 2, 4 and 8 kharub, 1 and 2 rial, and gold ''sultani''. A new coinage was introduced in 1847, consisting of copper 1 fals, 1 nasri, ½ and 1 kharub and silver 2 and 5 rial denominations. Between 1856 and 1858, copper coins for 3, 6 and 13 nasri were issued along with silver 2, 4 and 8 kharub, 1, 3 and 4 rial, and gold 10, 20, 25, 40, 50, 80 and 100 rial. The gold coins were initially struck in pure gold, later reduced to .900 fineness, with the 20, 40 and 80 rial denominations short-lived. The 6 and 13 nasri coins were later overstamped with the Arabic numerals "1" and "2" ("١" and "٢") to indicate that they were to circulate as 1 and 2 kharub coins, an increase in value of ½ nasri for the 6 nasri coin. In 1864, a new copper coinage was introduced in denominations of ¼, ½, 1, 2, 4, 8 kharub. Silver 8 kharub and gold 5 rial were also introduced. In 1887, the slightly smaller 25 rial coins were introduced (see above), w