Definition of "paul"

Shoes and boots are, generally speaking, better made at Florence than in any other part of Italy: the usual price charged for the former is eight pauls the pair; and for the latter from thirty to forty pauls.

1836, Mariana Starke, Travels in Europe and in the Island of Sicily, page 569

As soon as the horse again begins to move, the paul will take into the teeth of the ratchet-wheel, and restore to the fly-wheel its original speed.

1850, The Mechanic's Magazine, Register, Journal and Gazette, page 517