As to the source of the English, Pound Sterling, that was originally done during the Norman days that the tax, etc. collectors would accumulate 20 dozen silver pennies which weighed a pound. The Norman word for an English penny was esterlin which translated into latin was steringus + thus the unit of account became known as the pound sterling.

Also in the early middle ages there were tax collectors + supposedly lawmen to protect the populace. They were Reefs of the Shire; they became known as sherereefs + that turned into our current term of sheriff.