The Egyptian pound

The least we can say is that Egyptians love the currency and money in general. With its 11 different values of banknotes and coins, it’s one of the countries that circulates as many denominations as possible. You’ll find coins as well as banknotes worth 5, 10, 25 and 50 piasters as well as 1 pound (=100 piasters).

Egypt is one of the countries where «bakshish» is also very commonly practiced. This name of this tipping practice comes from the word «pressa», a «donation» worth about 50 piasters, and tourists as well as local Egyptians give them out. It serves various service staff (drivers, guards, waiters, etc.) to complement their meager wages.

Egypt is a country that relies heavily on the Muslim religion. It’s also a country where history is rich because of its dynasties of pharaohs and its enormous monuments. It really couldn’t get away with anything else as far as representations on its banknotes. On most banknotes, you’ll find one of the many mosques of the country on one side, and on the other an homage to its history in monuments (Abu Simbel on the 1-pound note, the statue of Shephren on the 10-pound note and the Great Sphinx on the 100-pound note).