Newp: Egyptian trio
Syracusian
Posts: 6,523 ✭✭✭✭✭
1/ AH1293/33H (1908) , Abdul Hamid II , PCGS MS65
These are tiny 16 mm coins of 1 gram of silver each.
2/ An incredible top grade (1 of 4) , AH1293/27W (1901) with original crust and underlying luster that deserves a better image
3/ A King Fuad 20 piastres gold, 1923, one year type, PCGS MS65
Dedicated to @atom, who owns the finest type set of Abdul Hamid II in PCGS.
14
Comments
Nice coins, Dimitri!
Thanks for sharing and your shout out.
Happy new year
Lovely!
Love the gold in particular!
Collector since 1976. On the CU forums here since 2001.
In fact, I was secretly hoping that this thread disappears , without any mercy replies, or a rather different term that we were using 20 years ago, that I cannot remember, but I'm sure that LordM remembers it.
The pictures of the silver qirshes are mediocre , one of which virtually non existent . I've already given the 1901 qirsh for professional imaging, because it is a really nice coin, after which I was hoping to try and present it in z better way. 🥴
Nevertheless, thank you tor the nice comments.
myEbay
DPOTD 3
@Syracusian just because we don’t comment, doesn’t mean we don’t like the coins or appreciate you posting them.
I don’t read Arabic nor know the rulers on the coins, but I happen to think Arabic script on coins can and often is very decorative and artistic. (I even own a few.)
And of course we all appreciate high-grade, mark free gold and nicely-toned silver, no matter the country.
😊
Thank you for this message. Sorry, I thought I was on PM mode and I therefore edited my initial post.😊
Happy new year.
Dimitri
myEbay
DPOTD 3
I don't remember, but I think we used to call it "happy talk"?
I'm satisfied enough with mercy replies or happy talk on my posts. I reckon it beats silence. Of course one always lives for those wonderful folks who give detailed, well-thought commentary, but these days, a lot of folks just use the "like" button.
I welcome most forms of feedback, I reckon. I'll take whatever I can get.
My previous comment above ("Ooh! Gold! Pretty!!!") admittedly falls into that lightweight sort of "happy talk" (though I wouldn't go so far as to call it a "mercy reply"). But the fact of the matter is, my knowledge of Egyptian coins is so slender that a lightweight morsel of happy talk is about all I could manage in this particular instance.
I'll try to do better next time. Cheers, and Happy New Year, Dimitri!
PS- I meant it, though- that gold coin with King Fuad is lovely. And the others are nice, even if I know zilch about them. MS67 is nothing to sneeze at, I know that much!
Collector since 1976. On the CU forums here since 2001.
This, most definitely!
Collector since 1976. On the CU forums here since 2001.
Great looking coins-
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
I agree I especially like the gold
I give away money. I collect money.
I don’t love money . I do love the Lord God.
I too really like the Qirsh! Great group of coins.
OK, thank you all for the nice comments. I promise to resurrect this thread one more time, when I will have some nice images of the 1901 qirsh , because it is really an exceptional coin and conditionally scarce. In fact, practically all of the silver qirsh minted during the first decade of the 20th century have very small mintages and an unknown number of survivors.
In the case of 1901, the mintage is 200000 and only 100000 for the 1908. The 1901 has the engraver's initial W (Emile Weingad, Berlin) and the 1908 has the H mintmark of the Heaton mint. Both initials are placed at the bottom of the obverse.
Egyptian coins issued prior to 1916 are very similar to Ottoman Turkish coins of the same period. They can best be distinguished by the presence of the Arabic word Misr (Egypt), which generally appears on the reverse, immediately above the Muslim accession date of the ruler, which is presented on the bottom half of the reverse in Arabic numerals.
Each coin is individually dated with the regnal year on the top half of the reverse.
The nominal value appears at the bottom half of the obverse.
At this point, I will break my monotonous explanations with an old favorite, to entertain those who haven't fallen asleep yet.
This is a crown sized 20 qirsh, dated 1327/4 ,ie 1911, struck in Heaton with a very small mintage of 100000 .
I bought this coin from Mark Teller at the 2008 NY international show, graded NGC MS66, a coin much rarer than the (VIP) proofs minted during those years.
I consider the resale of this coin, my third biggest mistake in my numismatic life, with the other two being sales of 2 rare Greek coins.
As with the minuscule one qirsh, we have the nominal value on the bottom half of the obverse ,
ie 20 in Arabic, ٢٠ the accession date on the bottom half of the reverse, ie 1327, ١٣٢٧, and the word Misr right above it. The regnal year 4, ٤, appears at the top half of the reverse.
Two things to note:
1/ that the start of an Arabic year does not coincide with the start of a Western new year , which causes a certain degree of confusion and
2/ there is NO (REGNAL) YEAR ZERO, so in this case, the 1293 (1876) is also 1293/1 (=1876) and therefore the year 1293/27 corresponds to (western year) 1876+26 (and not +27). The difference between the two coins above is 7 years (1901,1908) and yet, in Arabic years, the difference is only 6 years (regnal year 27 to 33) . N fact, if you add 1876 + 26 , the result would have been 1902 and not 1901.
Enter note one.
The earlier coin was minted during the first half of its (Arabic) year 1319 , ie Western year 1901 and not 1902, whereas the second, 1293/33 was minted during the second half of its (Arabic) year 1326 and the year of issue is indeed 1876+32=1908.
myEbay
DPOTD 3
I didn't mention anything about the gold 20 piastres with king Fuad because I think I have posted it a few months ago, it was not a December 2025 purchase.
The dating system and many other characteristics changed dramatically since 1916, ie during Hussein Kamil's reign. King Fuad started his reign in 1922 a year where Egyptian coinage, under British mandate changed almost in its entirety. King Fuad and his son King Farouk, whose portrait I am using as an avatar, were in fact of Turkish descent and their coinage has nothing in common with the Ottoman system that was abandonned a few years after Kemal Ataturk grabbed the power in Turkey. In fact, Turkish coins have also been Westernized since 1923, the year that the portrait of Kemal started appearing on gold Turkish coins.
Nevertheless, these Western styled coins are by far the most popular with Western collectors, who can better identify with these coins with a portrait on the obverse and a simpler, lighter reverse. Portraits of sultans or any human beings were forbidden during the Ottoman era and is a general principle for all Islamic coins, regardless of provenance as the Islamic religion dictates. This rule has been "watered down" during the 20th and 21st century. The "tughra" that appears in most Islamic coins on the obverse, is sort of a signature of each ruler.
The gold series of Fuad and Farouk (20,50,100 and 500 piastres) are almost identical in weight and size with the British gold sovereign series, with an additional nominal value of 20 piastres (approx 1/5th of a sovereign) that was also been struck in silver.
myEbay
DPOTD 3
AH1223//32 (1839) 20 Qirsh One year type
This is my only Egyptian gold coin. I thought it worthy to share given the Ottoman tradition.
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
Absolutely! And a very rare denomination, a one year type, right?
So far, I was only aware of the 25 qirsh in gold.
myEbay
DPOTD 3
Definitely 20 Qirsh. It is KM 216, but it really looks to be 1838 and not 1839 so that was either a typo/error on my part,
edited to add... PCGS has it as an 1839. 2 have been grade with both being graded at AU58. Not sure what the NGC population looks like
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
Yep, KM 216, 1.7 grams of gold, 0,875. It must be rare,my 2015 Krause has it at $375 in XF40.😮
AH1223/32 = 1808 + 31 = 1839
It was struck during the last year of the reign of Mahmud II. What am I missing?
Why does it look to be an 1838? You've really got my attention now!
myEbay
DPOTD 3
Here's one of mine that highlights my collecting preference -- actual rarity over conditional rarity
Abdul Aziz 20 Qirsh AH 1277 Year 1 Misr mint
Even if I couldn't read the date, it is undeniably an Abdul Aziz coin, you can tell by the simplicity of its design and the nice empty fields. And sure enough, all these crowns minted during the first year of the reign of every sultan are rare.
I am guessing VF25-VF30?
@coinkat : I came across another 20 qirsh gold of the year before yours ! How is this possible, since Krause has it as a one year type too? Unless the "one year type" refers to the design.
Look:
myEbay
DPOTD 3
Just for kicks and giggles, I looked at my 19th century Krause- 4th edition 2004. It is KM 216 and they listed the date as 1838 in parenthesis so that is where I got the date from- seems 1839 is correct though.
My apologies for the confusion
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
Indeed, VF30
And thanks for including all the great info about understanding the details of these issues.
@Syracusian
The 1837 you pictured is a 20 qirsh but the design is different-
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
I have had this little item since the 1960's:
Egypt 50 Piastres 1930 (AH 1349)
Gold, 20 mm, 4.25 gm
The coin is about the size and weight of a US $2-1/2 gold piece
King Fuad was King of Egypt from 1922 to 1936, and was the father of the more famous King Farouk.
From King Farouk's Memoirs, Al Arabiya News:
Fortunately, gold is impervious to most acids.
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