2019-12-10 Tue

Egypt, famous for the pyramids, is a country linking northeast Africa with the Middle East. The antiquity of the country dates to the time of the pharaohs. Millennia-old monuments sit along the fertile Nile River Valley, including Giza's colossal Pyramids and Great Sphinx as well as Luxor's hieroglyph-lined Karnak Temple and Valley of the Kings tombs. Egypt has one of the longest histories of any country. The capital of the country, Cairo, is home to Ottoman landmarks like Muhammad Ali Mosque and the Egyptian Museum, a trove of antiquities.

Egypt's economy is one of the largest and most diversified in the Arab world, and is projected to become one of the largest in the world in the 21st century. The Egyptian pound is the currency of Egypt. It is divided into 100 piastres, or ersh, or 1,000 milliemes.

In 1899, the National Bank of Egypt introduced notes in denominations of 50 piastres, £1, £5, £10, £50 and £100. Later in 1961, the Central Bank of Egypt took over from the National Bank and issued notes in denominations of 25 and 50 piastres, £1, £5, £10. All Egyptian banknotes are bilingual, with Arabic texts and Eastern Arabic numerals on the obverse, and English texts and Western Arabic numerals on the reverse. Obverse designs tend to feature an Islamic building with reverse designs featuring Ancient Egyptian motifs (buildings, statues and inscriptions).

Today we are looking at a 25 piastres banknote issued in 1942. The obverse has Banks of the River Nile with sailboats and palm trees, while the reverse depicts the Wings.

Image Courtesy: PicClick