Egypt 1916 2 piastres
This specimen was lot 76535 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, November 2025), where it did not sell. The catalog description[1] noted, "EGYPT. Mint Error -- Rotated Dies -- 2 Piastres, AH 1335/1916. Hussein Kamil. NGC VF Details--Surface Hairlines. British occupation coinage." At the beginning of World War I, the Ottoman Empire allied itself with Germany. In order to assure the use of the Suez canal and other strategic interests, the British formally occupied Egypt and installed a pliant ruler (Sultan Hussein Kamel). Thus the issue of Ottoman-style coinage ended and a new phase began. Denominations were now 'milliemes' and 'piastres' instead of qirshes and fractional qirshes, and for the first time, English lettering and numbers appeared on Egyptian coins.
The coin shown is a two piastres from the time of British occupation of Egypt. The obverse displays the name of Sultan Hussein Kamel bounded by a wreath, with the accession date 1333 (1914 AD) at the base. The reverse has the denomination in both Arabic and English (note that the Arabic denomination still translates as 'qirsh'). The year of strike is shown in both Hijra and Gregorian dates.
Recorded mintage: 2,505,000.
Specification: 2.8 g, 0.833 fine silver, 19 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: KM-317.1.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Uslu, Kaan, Beyazit, M. Fatih, and Kara, Tuncay. Ottoman Empire Coins, Istanbul: Mas Matbaacilik A.S., 2007.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, November 2025 World Collectors Choice Online Auction, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2025.
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