Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A gold coin formerly used in Spain and Spanish America.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A gold coin of Spain and the Spanish-American states, originally of double the value of the pistole, the double pistole being equivalent from 1730 to 1772 to $8.24, from 1772 to 1786 to $8.08, and from 1786 to 1848 to $7.87.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A Spanish gold coin, no longer issued, varying in value at different times from over fifteen dollars to about five. See doblon in Sup.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A former Spanish gold coin, also used in its American colonies.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a former Spanish gold coin

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Spanish doblón, augmentative of dobla, Spanish coin, from Latin dupla, feminine of duplus, double; see dwo- in Indo-European roots.]

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Examples

  • The Brasher coin was called a doubloon because it is approximately the weight of a Spanish gold doubloon, a common coin in colonial America.

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2011

  • He confided with pride: “A doubloon is my constant gain every day that the weather will permit my going out, and sometimes six pistoles.”

    Washington Richard Harwell 1968

  • He confided with pride: “A doubloon is my constant gain every day that the weather will permit my going out, and sometimes six pistoles.”

    Washington Richard Harwell 1968

  • He confided with pride: “A doubloon is my constant gain every day that the weather will permit my going out, and sometimes six pistoles.”

    Washington Richard Harwell 1968

  • He confided with pride: “A doubloon is my constant gain every day that the weather will permit my going out, and sometimes six pistoles.”

    Washington Richard Harwell 1968

  • A doubloon is my constant gain every day that the weather will permit my going out, and sometimes six pistoles.

    George Washington Thayer, William R 1922

  • [24] A doubloon is a coin used in Spanish America in Carter's time worth 16 pieces of eight.

    Robert Carter Diary, 1725 1725

  • [41.5] A doubloon was a coin used in Spanish America in Carter's time worth 16 pieces of eight.

    Robert Carter Diary, 1722 1722

  • In English (following Spanish) a doubloon was a coin worth two pesetas -- the pirates '` piece of eight,' because the peseta was equivalent to four reals.

    VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol 1 No 3 1974

  • A doubloon is my constant gain every day that the weather will permit of my going out, and sometimes six pistoles. "

    Boys' Book of Famous Soldiers 1917

Comments

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  • "I have seen doubloons before now in my voyagings; your doubloons of old Spain, your doubloons of Peru, your doubloons of Chili, your doubloons of Bolivia, your doubloons of Popayan; with plenty of gold moidores and pistoles, and joes, and half joes, and quarter joes."

    - Melville, Moby-Dick, ch. 99

    July 29, 2008