Egyptian pound

The Egyptian pound (Egyptian: الجنيه المصرى Gineih Masri) is the current legal currency of Egypt. The pound is divided into 100 piastres (qirsh) or 1000 milliemes.

The ISO 4217 code for the Egyptian pound is EGP. Locally, the abbreviation LE or L.E., which stands for livre égyptienne (French for Egyptian pound) is frequently used. E£ and £E are also much less-frequently used. The Egyptian Arabic name, gineih, may be related to the English name guinea.

History

In 1834, a Royal Decree promulgating a Parliamentary Bill was issued providing for the issuing of an Egyptian currency based on a bimetallic base. In 1836 the Egyptian pound was minted and put into circulation.

The pound was originally divided into 100 piastres, each of 40 para. In 1885, the para ceased to be issued and the piastre was divided into tenths (oshr al-qirsh). These tenths were renamed milliemes in 1916.

The legal exchange rates were fixed by force of law for important foreign currencies which became acceptable in the settlement of internal transactions. Eventually this led to Egypt using a de facto gold standard. (1885-1914)

The National Bank of Egypt issued banknotes for the first time on 3 April 1899. The Central Bank of Egypt and the National Bank of Egypt were unified into the Central Bank of Egypt.

Coins

Coins, even for the smallest amounts, are encountered much less frequently than notes, but 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 25 piastre coins remain legal currency. The most recent 25 piastre coin is holed.

During late spring in 2005, plans were announced to introduce a new 200 pound bill due to high cumulative inflation rates and coins for the 50 piastres and LE 1.

Effective June 1, 2006, LE 1 coin and 50 piastre coin will be introduced and the equivalent bills be scrapped later on. The coins will have faces of Cleopatra and King Tut, and LE 1 coin is bimetal. Their availabilities are expected to gradually increase in the coming months.

Banknotes

Banknotes worth 5, 10, 25, 50 piastres, 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 pounds are in currently circulation. It is worth nothing that notes of 25 piastres and above are issued by the Central Bank of Egypt, while 5 and 10 piastres are issued by the state, and the central bank website put the 2 lower valued notes under the category "coins" instead of "banknotes". All Egyptian banknotes are bilingual, with Arabic texts and Eastern Arabic numerals on obverse, and English and Hindu Arabic numerals on reverse. It tends to be that the front side has a picture of an Islamic building and the back side has a picture of an Ancient Egyptian building.

Historical exchange rates

Pound Sterling

This table shows the historical value of one Pound Sterling in Egyptian Pounds:

Date	Official Rate
1885 to 1949	EGP 1

US Dollar

This table shows the historical value of one U.S. Dollar in Egyptian Pounds:

Date	Official Rate	Date	Official Rate	Date	Official Rate
1885 to 1939	EGP 0.20	1940 to 1949	EGP 0.25	1950 to 1967	EGP 0.36
1968 to 1978	EGP 0.40	1979 to 1988	EGP 0.60	1989	EGP 0.83
1990	EGP 1.50	1991	EGP 3.00	1992	EGP 3.33
1993 to 1998	EGP 3.39	1999	EGP 3.40	2000	EGP 3.42 to EGP 3.75
2001	EGP 3.75 to EGP 4.50	2002	EGP 4.50 to EGP 4.62	2003	EGP 4.82 to EGP 6.13
2004	EGP 6.13 to EGP 6.28	2005	EGP 6.28 to EGP 5.75	2006	EGP 5.75

External links

History of the Egyptian pound

Economy of Egypt