A very brief history of coins in Egypt

The pound, 50 Piastres, and 25 piastres are all coins we used on a daily basis, but have you ever thought of the origin of these currencies?

After the barter system people started contemplating if they can use valuable items such as precious stones and metals to pay for their purchases. A side benefit would be the ability to store these stones and metals for longer periods of time since they won’t go bad like food items for example.

Later the idea of producing coins for easier mobility and storage and having a unified weight and shape came into being

The first minted coin in history

It was in 600 BCE in the Kingdom of Lydia currently Turkey when the first coin was made from a combination of gold, silver, and copper it was stamped with a design of lion and an ox symbolizing the empire. The idea then spread to neighboring countries through trade.

“To this day we still use coins as currency because smaller denominations are used more and thus should be made from hardier material

The evolution of coinage

At first coins were just pieces of heated metal shaped roughly into circles and embossed with the empire’s emblem but once their usage became widespread minting houses were established to unify the shape and weight. The sides were also decorated to prevent people from scrapping off some of the gold and silver either to sell it or to use it to make new coins. 

The first to place his face on a coin was Alexander the Great and after that rulers’ faces on coinage became the norm till this day

Egyptian coins

Coins arrive to Egypt with Alexander the Great, and the first Egyptian coin was minted in 305 BCE it was called the nefer-nub which literally means fine/pure gold. Egyptian coins always reflected the country’s economic status. The more prosperous the economy the more precious the method that was used and vice versa

To this day we still use coins as currency because smaller denominations are used more and thus should be made of harder material