The piastre ( Egyptian: ersh, قرش) was the currency of Egypt until 1834. It was subdivided into 40 ''para'', each of 3 ''

akçe The ''akçe'' or ''akça'' (also spelled ''akche'', ''akcheh''; ota, آقچه; ) refers to a silver coin which was the chief monetary unit of the Ottoman Empire. The word itself evolved from the word "silver or silver money", this word is der ...

''.

History

The piastre was based on the

Turkish kuruş Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

, introduced while Egypt was part of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

. As in Turkey,

debasement A debasement of coinage is the practice of lowering the intrinsic value of coins, especially when used in connection with commodity money, such as gold or silver coins. A coin is said to be debased if the quantity of gold, silver, copper or nick ...

lead to the piastre falling significantly in value. In 1834, the pound, or gineih (Arabic), was introduced as the chief unit of currency, worth 100 piastre. The piastre continues in use to the present day as a subdivision of the pound. The piastre continued to circulate, with the piastre subdivided into 40 para. In 1885, the para ceased to be issued, and the piastre was divided into tenths ( '' 'oshr el-ersh''). These tenths were renamed milliemes (''malleem'') in 1916.

Coins

In the early 19th century, billon coins in denominations of 1 akçe, 1, 5, 10 and 20 para, and 1 qirsh were in circulation, along with gold coins denominated as ¼, ½, 1, 2 and 3 ''mahbub''.

References

* {{refend Ottoman Egypt Economic history of Egypt Modern obsolete currencies Currencies of Africa 1834 disestablishments