I have a few Islamic coins. Trouble is I'm not sure that all the dates follow the AH format. Specifically, I have an Egyptian 10 piastres with a western date of 1917 and an Islamic date of what appears to be 1325. A 20 piastres (sphinx) with a date of 1956 (arabic numerals) and 1375. I need some smart folks to help me out if you don't mind. Nox
oh ... and as far as the differance in dates, it is because they use a different calender then the Gregorian calender westerners use
Thanks ... but it appears that I have not communicated what I wanted to ask. I need to try again ... There seems to be a difference in the number you add to the Islamic date to get the current western date. It also seems to vary between the individual countries. Nox
and it is quite possible that what you found is the case. alot of countires follow their own calender. Even within countries that do follow the Gregorian calender .. dates dont always match up. So for 2 Islamic countries, each uses a different point as their 'start' point, would end up at a different date today. I personally dont know the case for each country as to why or when they choose to start their calender, but i do knwo there are alot of differences in dates around the world.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_calendar Wiki gives a good explanation of the Islamic Calendar. Islamic years are shorter by approximately 11 days, so the difference between the AH and Gregorian date changes. A simple way to convert: AH Date x .97 + 622 = Gregorian date. Your 10 Piastre is dated 1335, not 1325.
You are correct. I have an appointment at the glue factory tomorrow ... if my alzheimers let's me remember it. Thank you. Nox
Islamic / Gregorian Online Calendar Converter HERE : http://www.geocities.com/bruastronomy/sunmoon_hijrah_calculator.htm
I agree, "There seems to be a difference in the number you add to the Islamic date to get the current western date. It also seems to vary between the individual countries." Since there is an 11 days difference, the islamic year extends (concides) with 2 Gregorian years. So, if a coin is minted in the begining of an islamic year and another at the end of the same year, both coins will share the same islamic date but two consecutive Gregorian dates. For an easy way to calculate it i use this convertor http://www.rabiah.com/convert/convert.php3 Hope this helps