1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Peseta

PESETA, a silver coin and unit of value, the Spanish equivalent of the French, Belgian and Swiss franc, the Italian lira and the Greek drachma in the Latin monetary union. The peso (Lat. pensum, weight), of which peseta is a diminutive, was a Spanish coin of gold, peso de oro, or silver, peso de plata, once current in Spain and her colonies, and now the name of a silver coin of many South American states. The peso is also the name of the Mexican dollar.