W. C a r e w H a z l i t t Coinage of the European Continent

Catalogue of European Denominations .
241
Vereins miinze, currency common to a group of districts and towns,
or to a country. See Convention-Money.
Vertugadin, the name or sobriquet bestowed on the e"cu d'argent of 5
livres-, issued by Louis XV., with the circular shield surmounted by a
crown. There are the ^, j, -fa,
and -fa.
Vessillifero. See Soldino vessillifero.
Vterch, irierchen, billon coinage of the Dukes of Pomerania of the
branches of Stettin and Wolgast, 1492. The vierch was apparently
= \
pfenning.
Vierer=4 deniers or denarii, a small coin of the Swiss canton of
Berne, introduced in 1828. Also of Strasburgh-in-Elsas.
Vierlander, the double groot or gros, so named from enjoying a currency
in four States. Philip le Bon, Duke of Burgundy (1433-67), as
Count of Holland, struck the vierlander and the double or piece of 8
stivers.
Vikariat thaler, a denomination applied to the money issued by the
Electors, Vicars of the Empire of Germany, during an interregnum.
Vintem, a copper Portuguese coin 20 reis, struck for Guinea.
There are the multiples of 2, 4, 6, and 12, the last = 240 reis.
Vintima, a piece of 20 soldi in silver struck by General Paoli for
Corsica during the republican epoch (1755-69).
Vizlin, the name by which a silver coin equivalent to the thaler was
struck at Ragusa in Dalmatia down to the close of the i8th c., with the
bust of the emperors and finally that of Liberty, which is borrowed from
the effigy on the thalers of Maria Theresa.
Vlieger, a piece of four patards. Base silver. i6th c. Brabant.
Vlieguyt, the name of a Brabantine billon piece struck in the I5th c.
by the Seigneurs of Vilvorde. A denier noir or swaarte.
Voetdrager, a name for the groot in circulation within the dominions
of the Counts of Holland, I3th-i4th c. Silver.
Vuurijzer. See Briquet.
Wapcnturnose, a type of the gros tournois struck in the feudal
county of Berg in the I4th c., with the arms or ivapcn of the Count.
IVaydir, apparently the fifth of a glockengulden or bell-thaler.
Weidertaufer thaler, the thaler of the Anabaptists, struck at Munster
in 1534.
Weight, poids, pezza, etc., a term given to metallic standards, which
represented the legal balance of current coins, and became in some places
and instances interchangeable with the coins themselves. In the South
of France and on the borders of Spain, from the I3th to the I5th or i6th
c., the livra and its parts in bronze was in general employment as a
test of the authenticity of the multiform currency, and also, it may be
apprehended, as an actual coinage a conspicuous feature ; is the presence
of dates, which begin as early as 1238. By a natural transition the
record of the prescribed weight was afterward transferred to ordinary
money, and in some countries this practice still continues. The chronological
fixture of the issue was obviously of importance as an aid in
identifying the weight with its counterpart. The gradual fall of such
expedients into disuse, when the coinage grew less complex, mints less
numerous, and education more diffused, left no vestige of the old custom
beyond the suggestive appellations of certain coins, such as peseta,
drachma, and oncia. The weights of ancient European pieces have been
preserved and collected on an extensive scale, and include those of
R