Spesmilo

We shall be delighted to relieve you of a pair of spesmiloj, alie a dollar, and will use your money to create more Esperanto enthusiasm.

To convert spesmiloj and spesoj readily into pence, divide by 4, disregarding the third figure to the right of the comma or decimal point (which figure is not always written).

They agree to repay the cost, together with the postage, of any article of consequence bought on their behalf,—cost to be stated in spesmiloj (half dollars).

As thus used by Esperantists before the First World War, the spesmilo equalled 50 American cents, 1 Russian rouble, or 2½ Swiss francs. Coins worth 1 and 2 spesmiloj were struck for Saussure in 1912.

The organization that followed on his creation included ideas for a universal government that would prevent war as well as a universal currency. As a result of this idea, in 1912 silver pattern coins were struck in the denominations of one spesmilo and two spesmiloj.