Coins From Egypt

Hi.
I hope this thread is not a repetition too
I thought of posting in one thread some of my Egyptian coins. They are the easiest for me to gather, since it is my country; easy to find.
With each coin, I will do my best to give an illustration.

There is a major interest in banknotes which is superior to coin collection in my country. besides, the price of some banknotes are very high. This doesn't underestimate coin values. some are very expensive indeed. It is just the trend of people's interest here to go for banknotes.

I will give two examples of banknotes which are very rare and most expensive; one is called the 2 camel banknote, its estimate value now jumped over 1000,000 L.E. (being used in magic I heard for excavation for pharaonic monuments by smugglers). It is worth to mention that banknotes in 1940s and backwards (Kindgom of Egypt) were promisory notes by the retail National Bank of Egypt (not by the Central Bank).
Another popular promisory banknote is Edris The Farmer banknote. Edris was a servant to Prince Foad, he came from Upper Egypt (Luxor), he had a vision for the prince that he would be king over Egypt. at that time, Egypt was a sultanat (under the ill sultan Hussein Kamel). His heir was his brother Kamal El Din. However, Kamal El Din abandoned the throne to Foad. and Foad became indeed a King over Egypt (Egypt and Sudan at that time). He therefore struck a banknote with Edris the farmer picture on it.

back to coins I will start with commemorative coins:


20 Piasters commemorating the restoration of the land (referring to Sinai and Taba), the outcome of 6th of october 1973 war.

at the top is written in arabic افتتاح بانوراما السادس من أكتوبر eftetah banorama al sades men octobar. Opening (inauguration) of 6th of October Panorama

Below which is written عودة الأرض 'awdet el ard; literally "return of the land" (meaning restoration of the land) year 1973-1989

on the reverse is written in calligraphy arab republic of egypt. 20 qersha (piasters).
again the year 1989-1410h


to be continued....

 

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Thank you for your kind words. For which, I will try my best to make it as simple and illustrative as it should be

 

I believe King Farouk was an avid collector. Saw some of his collection being auctioned a year or so ago.

Sorry but this is my only Egyptian coin (Ptolemy)




I have a VERY special coin from Al Maghrib though.

 

probably a hobbie for most kings and queens

there are some precious items dated back to King Farouq.
I have his millimes ( not his personal belongings, just mintage during his regime). However, they are not expensive in coin market.

about the Ptolemy coin, the public here would refer to it as Greek Era. We have a several civilizations as you know that settled in Egypt. in Egyptian Museums, coins and monuments are categorised as romanian, greek, islamic, etc. for simplification to the public who are not well deep into history.

 

Here are some of my FAO commemorative coins:


10 Qurush (piasters) 1975

Obverse:

reverse:
top right: تنظيم الأسرة Tanzeem Al Usra; Family Planning
top left: الغذاء للجميع Al ghezaa' lel gamee'; Food For All
Middle: calligraphic arab republic of egypt (ARE)
Bottom: 10 قروش qurush



same as above except: golden colour, smaller size, face value: 10 millimes 10 مليمات





5 Qurush 1977

Obverse:


Reverse:
Top: Food and Shelter For All الطعام و المأوى للجميع
Calligraphy of ARE
year 1977
value: 5 قروش Qurush




10 Qurush 1970

Obverse:


Reverse:
Top: The United Arab Republic (Egypt + Syria) Al Gohmureyya Al Arabeyya Al Mottaheda الجمهورية العربية المتحدة
on either side; dates: 9-9-1970 and 9-9-1952
centre: 10 qurush قروش
bottom: literal translation: The International Food & Agriculture Organisation (implying FAO) Monazamet Al Aghzeya Wal Zera'a Al Dawleyya;
منظمة الأغذية والزراعة الدولية

 

More FAO Commemorative Coins;

10 millimes 1978

Obverse: Food and Training For All; Al ta'am wal tadreeb lel gamee';
الطعام و التدريب للجميع



Reverse:
Top: calligraphy of ARE
10 millimes مليمات


10 millimes 1980

Obverse: Progress of the rural girl; tatawor al fataah al reefeyya; تطور الفتاة الريفية


Reverse:

 

Very nice coins, we don't have many collectors of these.

 

This is the only Egyptian coin I have, a non-circulating commemorative identified on Numista as:

1 Pound "Flight of Muhammad" AH 1400 / 1979
35 mm, .72 silver

I hadn't bothered to research the coin until now. Here's what Wikipedia has to say about it:

"The Hegira or Hijrah is the migration or journey of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Yathrib, later renamed by him to Medina, in the year 622. In June 622, after being warned of a plot to assassinate him, Muhammad secretly left his home in Mecca to emigrate to Yathrib, 320 km (200 mi) north of Mecca, along with his companion Abu Bakr. The Hijrah is also often identified with the start of the Islamic calendar, which was set to Julian 16 July 622."

So, this coin commemorates the 1400th anniversary of the flight of Muhammad.

(Photo "borrowed" from the Internet; didn't have time to photograph mine )

 

These are some cool modern coins of Egypt:



I will look for close-up photographs tomorrow.

 

@Maxfli wikipedia reference is authentic. This pound is indeed commemorative; year 1400 hijri. hijra (migration) is a preferred term to flight.
The obverse depicts the cave of Thowr; at its entrance spider silk and 2 doves laying eggs. Inside, hid prophet Muhammed and his companion Abu Bakr Al Seddiq from Infidels chasing them. Where a miracle happened that ALLAH ordered the spider to close the entrance with silk and the doves to lay eggs, that the infidels at their arrival to the cave thought it is impossible for them to be inside.

 

I will have to photograph some of my Egyptian coins, but I mostly have Ottoman and early 20th century pieces. I really like the strike quality and designs on modern Egyptian coins though, not a lot of that seen from other parts of the region in the mid 20th century

 

@Numismat am a big fan of ottoman and kingdom of Egypt myself. I have few coins from that era. I intend to collect as many as i could from pre-1952 Egypt (Kingdom of Egypt under Farouq and Foad), though better grades back then are more expensive and hard to find.
The strike quality and design was neat during Sadat and Mubarak time; with exception of few early 1970s aluminium strikes at the times of war and crises.
My favorite era in moden Egypt coins is surely 1954-1988 because plenty of commemorative coins struck during this period. Childhood nostalgia; the 80s are back for me everytime i get a piece of commemorative FAO this, UNICEF that, etc...

Here are a couple more of such coins:

5 Qurush 1975

Obverse:
عام المرأة aam el mar-a; woman's year

International Women's Year (IWY) was the name given to 1975 by the United Nations. Since that year March 8 has been celebrated as International Women's Day (wiki)

Reverse as usual. Calligraphy of ARE and face value 5 qurush + years in gregorian (left) 1975 and hijri (right) 1359

10 Qurush 1976 (1396 hijri)
Obverse:
Top: commemoration of reopening of Suez Canal; zekra e'adet eftetah qanat al sways. ذكرى اعادة افتتاح قناة السويس
Bottom: 5 june يونية
1975


Reverse: as usual

 

Here are a couple close-up photos that were recently saved on my laptop computer:

1939 Egypt 5 piastre
(silver)


1984 Egypt 1 piastre
(Aluminum-Bronze)




This last one is a 1956 Egypt 20 piastres 0.72 Silver coin (0.324 ounces of silver) that avoided the melting pot & resides in a happy home now.

 

@Collect89 the 1984 piaster you have is an error coin by the way
I don't know if you know that already or not))
try to guess where is the error ^^

King Farouq's 5 piaster is a very fine piece you have.
you know collecting "silver" coins in Egypt is a better investment than collecting non-silver coins, because the value of silver coins is "intrinsic". so even if the coin (as a coin) doesn't progress in its value with time, it can be still sold as silver to jewelery!
this is specially important here, I have a great affinity towards coins from Kingdom of Egypt and essence of British Colonial Rule and royal flavour, in other words "ancien régime" )

It is one of my top priorities to collect items from this era no matter how long it takes. it is only the budget that stands as a barrier. if i have a bulk of money, i would have gotten all at once.

ps: don't forget to look at the error of the 1 piaster
i have one piece of it also, but your grade is surely better than mine

 

There is a variety with the Christian date to the left & a variety with the Christian date to the right. My little 1 piastre coin has the Christian date to the right of the denomination.

BTW, I picked-up the little coin just 1 week ago when I was at a coin show.

If you know something more about the coin, I appreciate your sharing your knowledge.

 

@Collect89 correct
Normally, all coins have gregorian year on the left and hijri year on the right.
Therefore, this one is considered an error. I have also the standard piaster (normally set dates)
This error coin is not uncommon. But still it is worth to mention. Because errors give coins more value.
One more comment about the 1, 5, 10, 20 piasters currency you might read in coin informative websites that they are still in circulation and not phased out. This is partially true.
In Egypt, in trades and salaries, banking and accounts in general such decimals are still used. For example you can go to the supermarket and buy a pair of batteries costing 29.95 pounds. However if you give the cashier 30 pounds you will not get 5 piasters change back. They are practically withdrawn and phased out. But theoretically still in use (virtually). It is one reason i use visa card when i buy anything the card will pay exactly the value of the merchandise

The sphynx coin you have is a valuable piece. Keep it. It is not uncommon, but difficult to find at a cheap price, because it is usually in the hands of collectors. And if they resell it they sell it at a higher price than its real estimate price.
I have the 10, 5 and 1 millimes versions of the sphynx coins. Not yet your 20 piasters version. Will post their photos later today here

 

@Collect89 here is the sphynx coins I promised earlier to share

5 millimes 1958





10 and 1 millimes 1958




10 millimes 1956, 57, 58





your valuable silver 20 piasters sphynx is 1956 issue

 

The sphynx coin is a favorite of mine! One time a fellow collector showed an example & he complained about the scratches on his coin. The scratches were right across the sphynx's face. My coin had exactly the same scratches on the obverse.
Here is my 1957 Egypt 10 Piastres:

 

Egypt 2.5 Milliemes:





Egypt 1907 2 qirsh:




Egypt 1923 10 Piastre: