Egypt?

Cladiator

Did the ancient Egyptians have their own coins?

CIVITAS

Well, it depends on how ancient you want to go. The early Kingdom and Dynasties did not appear to have coinage. Since the western concept of coinage didn't come around until circa 650 B.C. in Lydia, it wouldn't have reached Egypt until many years later.

The later Egyptians had numerous types of coinage. The Ptolemies issued a lot of coinage during the 3rd through 1st centuries B.C. (ending with Cleopatra VII). Once the Roman Empire began, lots of provincial issues were struck at Alexandria in the name of the current emperor. This continued well into the 3rd century A.D.

Some examples of Egyptian Ancient Coinage

ColinCMR

Egyptian coinage is cool. The Ptolamaic series is cool because they began with Alexander the Great's generals who took control of Egypt upon his death. The Roman coins are neat because they are different than the regular Roman standards because the system there was so well entrenched they didn't really try to reform it. Egyptian hostory overall is really neat, I'm just getting into it myself, and collecting some of the coins will obviously follow.

Does anybody know of any good books covering this area?

BigAlan

By the time coinage was invent Ancient Egypt was history (crude attempt at humor intended.) The earliest coins from Egypt date to the 5th century BC. They are gold with a Greek design plus the hieroglyphs for "good" and "gold." The few known examples were discovered in southern Egypt and were probably used to pay Greek mercenaries stationed in that area. Thebes was the probable mint site.