billon
an alloy used in coinage, consisting of gold or silver with a larger amount of base metal.
an alloy of silver with copper or the like, used for coins of small denomination.
any coin struck from such an alloy.
Origin of billon
1Words Nearby billon
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use billon in a sentence
The particular coins so designated, were billon or copper, and are described in Lindsay's "Coinage of Scotland," p. 183.
The Works of John Knox, Vol. 1 (of 6) | John KnoxFrom Severus onwards the silver coinage had in fact become "mere billon money," mostly copper.
The Evolution of States | J. M. RobertsonThe same result could be got by taking the billon money of Florence and calculating from its silver contents.
The History of Currency, 1252 to 1896 | William Arthur ShawIn this rsum the mention of billon money has been generally avoided, as unduly complicating the subject.
The History of Currency, 1252 to 1896 | William Arthur ShawThe gold coins do not so signally fail; it is in the inferior metals, especially the billon and copper, that the difficulty lies.
The Confessions of a Collector | William Carew Hazlitt
British Dictionary definitions for billon
/ (ˈbɪlən) /
an alloy consisting of gold or silver and a base metal, usually copper, used esp for coinage
any coin made of such an alloy
Origin of billon
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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