Purse vs. Wallet

And in a purse of silk, hung on his shirt,
He hath it put, and laid it at his heart.
—Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales.
(Usage as "woman's handbag" first recorded in 1955.)

But tell me Lady, wherefore doe you beare
This bottle thus before you with such toile,
And eeke this wallet at your backe arreare,
—Edmund Spenser, Faerie Queene.
(Usage as "flat case for carrying paper money" first recorded in 1834.)

American English is a funny thing.