Coins of Egypt (1884-1944)

Today's survey focuses on Egypt's coins - a state with more than 5,000 years of history. It is one of the most ancient civilizations on Earth, whose architectural monuments impress tourists from all over the world to this day. The sovereignty of the Egyptian kingdom as an independent state ended in 525 BC. The lands of Egypt, starting from this time, for 2400 years alternately captured the Greeks, Romans, Persians, Arabs, Ottomans...

 

Despite such an ancient history of statehood, for quite a long time in Egypt there was no money of its own. In trade relations, Egyptians most often used natural exchange, in which the difference in the cost of goods was compensated by grain or ingots of various metals that did not have any specific weight or size. It is noteworthy that for some time silver in Egypt was valued above gold, in a ratio of about 5:3. The first coins in the ancient history of Egypt were minted in the XII century BC. This was facilitated by the massive stuffing into the market of gold and silver obtained from the melting of jewelry stolen from the tombs of past pharaohs.

 

Since 1517  , Egypt has been a province of the Ottoman Empire (Egyptian eyalet) for 400 years. To manage the province, the sultan appointed  his governor (pasha), who had practically no power, but mainly monitored the collection and sending of taxes to the Empire. However, this did not always suit the governors, and they periodically "exceeded the powers" released by the Sultan. This was facilitated by the connivance of the central government of the Empire, which was concerned about the conquest of new territories and the retention of existing ones, not really paying attention to what was happening in the Egyptian province. In addition, at the end of the 18th century, France and Great Britain, which at that time divided colonial Africa among themselves, looked closely at the almost neglected lands of Egypt and attempted to seize them, so far economically.

 

In 1805, Muhammad Ali Pasha became the governor of Egypt - an ambitious military leader and a man of progressive views who declares himself a khedive (vice sultan of Egypt) and immediately makes it clear to the Ottoman authorities that the khedivat Egypt no longer wants to be part of the Empire and will pursue an independent policy. The self-proclaimed Khedive of Egypt, Muhammad Ali, is starting to reorganize the state structure, government, army, economy of Egypt according to the European, or rather, according to the French, model. At the same time, it is not without extreme measures against the supporters of the Sultan inside Egypt and reprisals against the governors newly appointed by the Sultan. According to the results of the Russian-Turkish war of 1829-30, Egypt ceases to pay tribute to the Sultan, and in the period from 1831 to 1839 it captures neighboring states and manages to successfully fight twice with the Ottoman Empire. In the end, not without the participation of European powers, by 1840 the rebellious khedivat returned to the Ottoman Empire, while maintaining some independence in the internal political arrangement of the country.

 

 

In 1834, after the corresponding decree of the Khedive, Egypt began issuing its own coins. The monetary system was based on a bimetallic (silver/gold) standard based on Maria Theresa's thalere, which was very popular at that time among merchants in the region.

 

 

Coins in denominations of 1 and 5 pairs were issued on copper blanks, 10, 20 pairs, 1, 5, 10 and 20 kirsch, first from billon, and then from silver. Coins in 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 kirsch were gold.

 

Despite the international name "Pound," in Arabic its name sounds like "al-guiney al-Mashri" (from the English currency "Guinea"), and the abbreviated name of this currency has survived to this day as "LE" (livre égyptienne), which is translated from French means Egyptian livre (from the French currency "Livre"). Here is such a "friendship of peoples."

 

The name "kirsh" traces a connection with the name of the Turkish currency "kurush." In nominal terms, they were also equal, and the Turkish kurush was in circulation in Egypt along with the Egyptian kirsch. 1 gold Egyptian pound equated to 100 Turkish kurush.

 

 

On June 8, 1867, the title of Headdive of Egypt was officially granted by the Sultan to the new governor Ismail Pasha. Egypt is one step closer to independence. Ismail Pasha continued the policy of Europeanization of Egypt and in 1884 carried out a monetary reform. The coins changed their sizes, material and denominations. Bronze, copper-nickel alloy and silver began to be used as a material, and kirsch and its components remained of the denominations.

 

 

Ismail Pasha's aggressive economic reforms required significant financial injections and Western "friends" (for the most part now English) did not stand aside. The repayment of cash loans by European banks led to an even more aggravated decline in the Egyptian economy and inflation in the country. Trying to somehow rectify the situation, the government of Ismail Pasha resorted to unpopular measures - an increase in land taxes and cancellation of domestic loans, which caused a wave of indignation in the country. The government was dismissed, and Ismail Pasha in 1879 renounced power and left the country. In 1895, Ismail Pasha died in Istanbul while trying to drink two bottles of champagne in one gulp.

 

 

Taufik Pasha is the son of Ismail Pasha and the second official headdive of Egypt ascended the throne in difficult times. Desperate attempts to correct his father's financial failures led first to economic and then political dominance in Egypt of the British Empire. In 1882, under the pretext of suppressing the uprising of the Egyptian military, British troops entered the country and the occupation of Egypt by Great Britain actually began.

 

Since the occupation was carried out "officially" with the knowledge of the legitimate authorities of Egypt, Taufik Pasha formally continued to remain on the throne until 1892. After his death, Abbas Pasha ascended the throne - the son of Taufik Pasha, the great-great-grandson of Muhammad Ali, the third and last heddive of Egypt, who continued his sluggish attempts to obtain official sovereignty from Istanbul and the Europeanization of Egypt.

 

 

Meanwhile, in the Ottoman Empire itself, Mehmed VI ascended the throne. This was followed by monetary reform. Let's not forget that Egypt has so far been officially listed as a province of the Ottoman Empire and the name of the ruling Ottoman sultan is indicated on the banknotes. In addition to the tugra and the floral ornament around it, there were no changes in design, materials, or denominations. Unless they supplemented the line of coins with a face value of 20 silver kirsch.

 

 

With the outbreak of World War I, in 1914, Khedive Abbas Pasha sided with the Ottoman Empire and the Central Powers, and Great Britain had no choice but to remove him and officially declare its protectorate over Egypt, placing Sultan Hussein Kamil at the head of state, who was the brother of Taufik Pasha and the son of Ismail Pasha. The ruler of the protectorate was a puppet in the hands of the British government and did not make independent decisions.

 

 

With the declaration of the protectorate, coins with the name of the Turkish sultan cease to be legal tender. The British occupation authorities are introducing a new line of coins. At the same time, the name of the monetary unit changes - millions and piasters have replaced kirches. Please note : Arabic inscriptions on coins indicating the denomination, name of the monetary unit and year of issue are duplicated in English for the first time in history. In addition, on all coins in addition to the year of issue of the coin, the year of ١٣٣٣ (1914) is mentioned in Arabic numerals - the date of the announcement of the British protectorate.

 

In 1917, Sultan Hussein-Kamil died, and power in Egypt passed into the hands of his younger brother - Ahmed Fuad, the seventh son of Ismail Pasha . The British hoped that Sultan Fuad would adhere to the policy of the pro-British government of Egypt, but he received the support of the nationalist Wafd party, which was gaining popularity in the country, which set itself the goal of obtaining absolute sovereignty, and now not only the masses, but also the country's leadership has risen to fight for independence. In 1922, under the onslaught of the national liberation movement, led by nationalists from the Wafd, Great Britain abandoned the protectorate over Egypt, recognized its independence, although it left part of its occupation forces in the country. Since that time, Egypt has acquired sovereignty for the first time in modern history. The first king of Egypt is proclaimed Sultan Fuad. 

 

 

In 1923-1924, coins were issued that depict the profile of King Ahmed Fuad I in a business suit. It is not in the tradition of Islam to put images of rulers on coins, but Egypt at that time had already ceased to be a remote province of a radical Muslim state and proclaimed itself a constitutional monarchy. Arabic inscriptions and numbers remained on the coins, although there is a year in the chronology from the Nativity of Christ.

 

 

 

On the coins of the next issue, which took place in 1929, King Fuad I is depicted in a military uniform.

 

 

To the already existing monetary series, in 1933 a face value of 2 ½ millimeters was added.

 

After the death of King Fuad I, power in the country passed to his son Faruk. 

 

The denominations of most of the coins of the new King of Egypt were left practically unchanged. Liberties were only allowed, expressed in the wavy and hexagonal shape of coins and variations in material when using blanks for some of them. 

 

 

Faruk I from the very beginning of his reign began to conduct pro-British politics, and a year after joining the throne, he entered into a confrontation with the Wafd party. Despite the fact that under the 1936 treaty, Great Britain assumed obligations to protect Egypt in the event of an external invasion of third states, retained its military contingent on its territory and trained Egyptian soldiers, by the beginning of World War II Farouk and his prime ministers did not hide their sympathies to the Third Reich and Axis countries. Under pressure from the government and the public, they sided with the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition only in 1945, when the outcome of the war was already a foregone conclusion.

 

The country's flourishing corruption of the state apparatus, defeat in the war with Israel, as well as the ostentatious exorbitant waste of the monarch led to discontent among the population and the military coup of 1952. The monarchy in Egypt was abolished, and Farouk fled from the rebels in Monaco.