World coins chat: Egypt

Egypt is a transcontinental country in north eastern Africa and the western tip of Asia. The area has one of the longest histories of mankind, with evidence of an agricultural culture dating back to 10,000 BC.

Around 3,150 BC, King Menes founded a unified kingdom, the start of 3 millennia of pharaonic dynasties ruling Egypt and producing many of the well-known cultural heritages of Egypt. The most famous and powerful pharao was perhaps Ramses II who ruled during the 13th century BC.

The pharaonic period came to an end after the Persians conquered Egypt in 343 BC, and in 323 BC Alexander the Great conquered Egypt. After his early death a hellenistic kingdom was founded known as Ptolemaic Egypt. This lasted until the Romans conquered Egypt in 32 BC, ending the rule of the very famous Queen Cleopatra.

Egypt became part of the Byzantine Empire and in 640 AD it was conquered by Arabs of the Islamic Caliphate, an event that defined the culture and demographics of present-day Egypt. Around 1250 a Turco-Circassian military caste known as the Mamluks took over Egypt, and continued to influence the country until French conquest in 1798, even though Egypt became an Ottoman province in 1517.

During the brief French presence Rosetta's Stone was discovered, a tablet containing Greek and Hieroglyphic texts allowing for deciphering the ancient Hieroglyphs, which meant a breakthrough in Egyptology and the onset of many archaeologic discoveries.

After the French were expelled, Albanian-born Ottoman vassal Muhammad Ali Pasha took power in 1805. He laid the foundation of modern Egypt by modernising the country into a local power. He directly competed for power with the Ottomans, even though he was nominally a viceroy (named Khedive) under the Sultan. His successors were a bit less successful though, accumulating too much debt with British and French banks over the construction of the Suez Canal and subsequently having to give control of the canal to these European powers. By 1882 Egypt had become a puppet state under British suzerainty though nominally still an Ottoman province.

With the Ottomans siding with the Central Powers during WW1, the British took full control of Egypt and installed Hussein Kamil to the Egyptian throne. Turmoil after WW1 caused the British to declare the independence of Egypt in 1922, after which it became a kingdom with kings friendly to Britain. This caused popular discontent eventually leading to Nasr taking power in a revolution in 1952, after which Egypt became a republic.

The pan-Arabist and socialist Nasr continued to challenge Western influence and sought Soviet assistance. He nationalised the Suez Canal in 1956 leading to the Suez Crisis, during which British and French forces attacked Egypt. Fearing Soviet reprisal, the USA urged its European allies to step back. Nasr came out victorious, despite military successes of the Europeans.

In 1958 Nasr proclaimed the United Arab Republic (UAR) together with Syria, with plans of letting more Arab nations join, such as Iraq. However, the Syrians already broke away in 1961 and the UAR never led to a more unified Arab world. During the UAR era, Egyptian and Syrian currencies kept existing and a monetary union was never achieved.

Between 1967 and 1973 Egypt fought 2 wars with Israel. The Six Day War of 1967 was a total disaster for Egypt losing the entire Sinai to Israel. In 1973 Egypt tried to take revenge during the Yom Kippur war but despite gains in the Sinai the full objectives did not materialise. Eventually Egypt made peace with Israel in 1979, which in turn led to the assassination of President Sadat in 1982, who was succeeded by Hosni Mubarak.

Mubarak led Egypt until 2011, failing to bring economic improvements for the middle class and fight corruption. Large street protests during the Arab Spring ended his rule. Since then Egypt has been a bit unstable, fighting islamic insurgents in the Sinai and having to cope with internal differences.

Currency
Modern Egyptian currency started in the 17th century with the Egyptian Kuruş based on the Ottoman one. The word Kuruş comes from French Gros, and in Egyptian Arabic it is named Ersh, but it is internationally known as Piastre. It was originally a large silver coin but continuous debasement eroded its value. The Kuruş was subdivided in 40 Para each of 3 Akçe.

Around 1800 a Kuruş was worth around 1/3 of a Dollar or 1s4d. In 1825 this had changed to $0.07 or a bit more than 3d. In 1844 a new gold unit of 100 Kuruş named Pound, Lira or Gineh became the unit of account. By 1885 a rate of 1£ = £E 0.975 had been established, which held until 1939. The Piastres was from 1885 subdivided in 10 Milliemes instead of 40 Para.

19th century Egyptian coins were similar to Ottoman coins in terms of symbols, but were worth more and easily distinguishable. Only after 1914 the Ottoman symbols were replaced by purely Egyptian legends. In The WW1 series during British occupation have the denominations in English as well.

During the Kingdom of Egypt portraits of Fuad and Farouk were used, and after the revolution the Sphynx featured on the coins. Silver was last used in the 1960's. The Egyptian Pound gradually lost more value. In 1970 it was worth 2$50 and in 1980 1$67. The early 90's brought larger devaluations to a rate of 3 £E per USD. By 2015 there are even 7.83 EGP to the Dollar.

Egypt's coins are pretty easy to find which is nice for the novice collector. There are a lot of circulating commemoratives and by increasing the budget a bit one can also find Egyptian coins from earlier eras. Nice silver coins with historic symbols or former exotic kings also exist.

Ancient Egyptian coins (before 323BC):
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/egypt-ancient-1.html

Ptolemaic Kingdom (323-32BC):
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/grece_antique-1.html#devise2172

Roman-era Egypt (32BC-390AD):
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/roman-provinces-1.html#devise3502

Egypt from 16th century:
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/egypte-1.html

Egypt has some of my favorite coin designs, their silver coins from the 1960s are especially nice. And I don't normally like most modern coins, but I do like some modern Egyptian coins. I have a 1924 Mallim at the moment, but I plan on getting a few in the near future.   

I own 58 types with a silver 5 Kuruş from the 1890's and some 1916 silver 2, 5 and 10 Piastres coins. I also like the large copper 20 Para from 1855. From the kingdom the coins with Farouk and his fez are quite nice, as well as the first republican series with the Sphynx.

Citeer: jokinenI own 58 types with a silver 5 Kuruş from the 1890's and some 1916 silver 2, 5 and 10 Piastres coins. I also like the large copper 20 Para from 1855. From the kingdom the coins with Farouk and his fez are quite nice, as well as the first republican series with the Sphynx.

Well, I suppose you like Egyptian coins, too.

What do I have... 2 mallimat Fuad I 1929, 1 mallim Sphinx 1956, 10 Qirush 1967 UAR post-split (as Egypt kept the name up to 1971) and post-UAR coinage...

I went over my collection and found an uncatalogued 59th coin: 1/10 Qirsh from 1908. Yeah I do like Egyptian coins   

The many historical eras that are all collectible make it one of the nicer countries. I have actually been in Egypt, although it was almost 10 years ago. Amazing heritage that is so much older than anything in for instance Rome. Annoying salesmen though.

I'm selling this one on eBay right now.  1914 10 Qirsh, Mehmed V





Wikipedia claims:

"He was born at Topkapı Palace, Istanbul.[1] Like many other potential heirs to the throne, he was confined for 30 years in the Harems of the palace. For nine of those years he was in solitary confinement. During this time he studied poetry of the old Persian style and was an acclaimed poet. On his ninth birthday he was ceremoniously circumcised in the special Circumcision Room (Sünnet Odasi) of Topkapı Palace."

OUCH!!!!

And the last Caliph to declare jihad until quite recently:

"Mehmed V's most significant political act was to formally declare jihad against the Entente Powers (Allies of World War I) on 11 November 1914, following the Ottoman government's decision to join the First World War on the side of the Central Powers."...."This was the last genuine proclamation of jihad in history by a Caliph, as the Caliphate lasted until 1924."

Cheers,   Peter, Guelph, Ontario, Canada

I have 14 types in my collection:
- 5 and 10 Millimes (late 30s - early 40s, Farouk I)
- 1967 10 Piastres UAR
- and the rest are from the modern Arab Republic circulation coinage, mostly 70s-80s

I went to Egypt a few years ago for vacation with my wife and her family and met a man outside the pyramids selling a mini album of about 50 different egyptian coins, at first he wanted 100 euros I eventually negotiated him down to 20 euros so I was very happy with my purchase and had a great vacation a very beautiful country with an amazing history.

Added a link to Ptolemaic Kingdom coins which are listed under Ancient Greece. In my opinion this should be moved to Ancient Egypt.

Citeer: "jokinen"​Added a link to Ptolemaic Kingdom coins which are listed under Ancient Greece. In my opinion this should be moved to Ancient Egypt.

​Ancient world may be reorganized in the future. Concerned referees will have a talk about it. More generally, country list will be reformed, in a way which should allow to see it under both ancient Egypt and Greece.

The Egyptian issue will be, of course, involved in the debate, despite they share the same referee.

My largest numismatic "country" : over 250 different coins

Oh, I didn't notice you made an error: Roman-era Egyptian coins are not listed apart but as part of Roman Provinces. However the listing you listed here is made under Pharaonic ages, as only last Pharaohs minted them (as before there was no currency, only goods trade).

Citeer: "chomp-master"​Oh, I didn't notice you made an error: Roman-era Egyptian coins are not listed apart but as part of Roman Provinces. However the listing you listed here is made under Pharaonic ages, as only last Pharaohs minted them (as before there was no currency, only goods trade).

​
At the time I wrote the topic the Roman-Egyptian coins were still listed under ancient Egypt. The Roman Provinces category was implemented later. I will update the topic.

Didn't notice this. Anyway I wasn't referee of Roman Provinces yet.

Big fan of their Ottoman era and Hussain Kamil coinage (He was actually Greek Muslim apparently).

Here is my 20 Piastres I just picked up



And one much older I rescued from a junk silver lot


It's more worn, but its also a lot older - notice that it's Abdul Hamid II's coronation date there.
AH 1313 (1293 Year 21 with year 1 being 1293) = 1895/96AD


This 10 Piastres of Abdul Hamid Year 11 is my oldest so far (It's wear deals that out - date AH 1303 = 1885/86).

We get a lot of these in this country, mainly as our soldiers trained and fought in Egypt in both wars, most Mehmed V coins are VF or better along with Hussain Kamil's but the older Abdul Hamid ones are more worn as they had been circulating in the souks and bazaars for 20 -30 years!