Usually I showcase silver coins from the European continent, as these are the ones I can typically score for the right price.
Well, today's piece is one of the exceptions as it comes from Egypt.
Let's check it out
So, this is a 1956 Qirsh and it's one of the few coins I have from that country. Let's see some more shots before learning more about it:
The front is pretty basic featuring a symbol you are probably familiar with, the sphinx. If not, it's an ancient mythological creature encountered in Egyptian and Greek art and legend. The Great Sphinx of Giza is probably the best known example of a Sphinx.
If you are not familiar with them, the tldr is that they are a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of an eagle.
The Greeks considered them to be treacherous and merciless beings while Egyptians saw them as benevolent representations of strength and ferocity, usually of a pharaoh. Interestingly, usually Greeks depicted them as females while Egyptians as wingless males. Anyways, here's a link to Wikipedia if you'd like to read more on them
Ok back to the coin now!
This side also features the minting year in both the Gregorian calendar and the Hijri (muslim) calendar:
1956 - 1375
The other side is nothing special, just the basic info in Arabic
مِصر
جُمهورية
٥
قروش
For:
Egypt
Republic
5
Qirsh
As for silver, this is a small piece, 3.5 g of 0.720 purity. The rest is copper in case you care. Here are some more boring details from numista
Period: Republic (1953-1958)
Type: Standard circulation coin
Years: 1375-1376 (1956-1957)
Calendar: Islamic (Hijri)
Value: 5 Piastres (0.05 EGP)
Diameter: 22 mm
Thickness: 0.95 mm
Shape: Round
Technique: Milled
And this pretty much sums today's coin.
I guess for an Egyptian this would be a pretty boring coin as the sphinx is something they see all the time here and there. But to a foreigner like me that likes ancient Egyptian shit... A pretty cool coin. Eventually, I'll probably get the 20 qirsh version as well. It's pretty much the same, just double the size.
Btw, this is a pretty common coin so if you like it don't expect to pay much. 5 $ would probably be enough to get one for your collection :)
Ok friends! This is it for today, see you soon with more silver!
Stack on!
Fun Numismatics Posts
Enjoyed the post? Here is some more fun silver/numismatics themed content I have written in the past I think you will enjoy:
- The country that uses plastic coins!
- The bizarre coins of Cook Islands
- Infographic: What Type of Silver Whale are you?
- My silver pocket piece
- My favorite piece from the stack
- The 10 Million Dollar Coin
- This is where gold really comes from!
- That's one big nugget!
- The Ten Thousand Dollar Bill ?!?!
- Biggest Gold Coin Ever
- A coin made of cardboard
- The microorganism that poops gold!
- World's smallest gold coin
- Manchukuo's Fiber Coins from 1945