Egyptian Pound: History and Stories

Egyptian Pound

• The Egyptian pound is the official currency of the Arab Republic of Egypt; the pound is divided into 100 piasters, and the piaster is divided into 100 millimeters. The ISO 4217 code is used to refer to it as EGP.
• The (ISO 4217) is defined as a list of a set of codes that are used in the banking and business sector in various parts of the world. It is also known as the “Currency Law”, and is used to specify the names of currencies that have been identified by the International Organization for Standards “ISO”.

History of the Egyptian pound

• There was no specific currency for the Egyptian monetary system until 1834 AD, trading was done by gold and silver.
• In 1834, Khedive “Khedive Ismail” decree was issued regarding a draft parliamentary bill for the issuance of an Egyptian currency based on “gold and silver” metals.
• After that, the government minted money in the form of gold and silver riyals.
• In 1836 AD, the Egyptian pound was minted and introduced.
• The National Bank of Egypt issued banknotes for the Egyptian pound for the first time, on April 3, 1899 AD.
• The first Egyptian pound was known as the “Abu Jamlin pound”, because one of its faces bore the image of two camels in the desert of Egypt.
• Between (1885 and 1914 “the outbreak of World War I”), as a result of fixing the exchange rate with the most important foreign currencies by force of law, which gave the pound acceptance in internal transactions, the pound was valued at that time by means of gold standards, so the pound was equal to (4.4375 grams of gold). The Egyptian pound was linked to the Pound Sterling, which was equal to (0.975 Egyptian pounds), and the Egyptian pound remained linked to the pound Sterling until it was linked to the US dollar in 1962 AD.
• The Egyptian pound was linked to the US dollar in 1962 AD, when the Egyptian pound was equal to ($ 2.3).
• In 1978, the exchange rate was changed, so that the Egyptian pound was worth (1.428 dollars).
• The dollar remained equal to 0.7 pounds until 1989 when the Egyptian pound was partially floated, so the US dollar became equal to (3.3 Egyptian pounds), and the Central Bank maintained a fixed rate of foreign exchange, until the Egyptian pound was completely floated in 2003 AD.
• The Central Bank of Egypt established a money-printing facility after they used to print money abroad, different denominations were printed in December 1968.
• Large denominations (20-50-100 Egyptian pounds) were issued to facilitate transactions resulting from the growth of the economy, specifically after the implementation of open economy politics.

The traded denominations of the Egyptian currency

• Banknotes for small transactions, (25 piasters, 50 piasters, and 1 pound).

The 25 piaster note was issued in January 1979.

The 50 piaster note was issued in December 1967.

The 1-pound denomination was issued in May 1968.

• Coins for small transactions, (25 piasters, 50 piasters, and 1 pound).
• Banknotes for medium transactions, (5 pounds, 10 pounds, 20 pounds).

The 5-pound denomination was issued in January 1969 AD.

The 10-pound denomination was issued on June 1978.

The 20-pound denomination was issued in July 1976.

• Banknotes for large transactions, (50 pounds, 100 pounds, 200 pounds).

The 50-pound denomination was issued in February 1993.

The 100-pound denomination was issued in September 1994 AD.

The 200-pound denomination was issued in April 2007.

Naming of the Egyptian pound

• After the British forces took control of Egypt, following the defeat of the Egyptian army in the Battle of Tell El Kebir under the leadership of Ahmed Orabi, this affected all sectors of Egypt, and thus the economic system, which led to a change in the name of the currency.
• The term pound is derived from British nomenclature, where the word pound is originally an English word and was written “Guinea”, it was a currency that Britain used in the past, so this name was given to the Egyptian currency, and thus it was named the “Egyptian pound”.