Wednesday
Aug162006
New LE1 Coins
Hossam el-Hamalawy
I read a while ago somewhere that the govt was planning to issue these new 50 Piasters and LE1 coins to replace the paper money notes circulating in the market. I've just come accross the LE1 coin yesterday, with King Tut's face on it.
I tried taking a pic of those coins with my mob phone, but quality isn't good.
I'm curious to know what fellow Egyptians and Cairo Arabists think of those coins? Do you like them?
I mean, I'm kinda conflicted... The paper money notes circulating in the market have tended to be FILTHY. The Central Bank doesn't recycle them as fast as they should. So I guess coins are better in that regards. But at the same time coins are not easy to carry around in wallets. Gotta buy a purse for them or something?.. Donno.. what do you think..?
Oh, and has anybody seen the 50 PT coins? I haven't seen those yet. Pitch us a pic if you have one.
I tried taking a pic of those coins with my mob phone, but quality isn't good.
I'm curious to know what fellow Egyptians and Cairo Arabists think of those coins? Do you like them?
I mean, I'm kinda conflicted... The paper money notes circulating in the market have tended to be FILTHY. The Central Bank doesn't recycle them as fast as they should. So I guess coins are better in that regards. But at the same time coins are not easy to carry around in wallets. Gotta buy a purse for them or something?.. Donno.. what do you think..?
Oh, and has anybody seen the 50 PT coins? I haven't seen those yet. Pitch us a pic if you have one.
Reader Comments (7)
I still haven't seen King Tut and Cleopatra (the LE1 and LE0.50 coins respectively), apparently they're having a tough time being accepted:
http://www.amcham.org.eg/Publications/BusinessMonthly/august%2006/indepth(newcoinageslowtocatchon).asp
Canada started replacing bills with coins in the '80s... first the $1 coin, then the $2 coin... soon we'll be carrying around buckets to complete transactions. I love Egypt for its convenient paper money. Oh well...
They look a lot like euros. Much as the old notes are flimsy and filthy at this point, carrying around coins is vastly overrated. Everytime I go back to England I'm horrified at how much my purse weighs after buying anything. I agree with Adam - the notes rather than coins has always been a sensible decision.
Another foto of the coin
http://kelmeteen.blogspot.com/2006/07/blog-post_13.html" rel="nofollow">
http://kelmeteen.blogspot.com/2006/07/blog-post_13.html
Great - just what we needed, more coins for men (who think it's beneath their dignity to use coin purses) to jingle around in their pockets and then dump on every available surface the moment they get home.
Oh, I dunno. I've never minded shoving a fist full of euros into my pockets. Never needed a purse.
Plus, this means less people slipping my ripped up paper notes in the middle of the rest of the change, and no one adamantly refusing to accept said torn notes.
That's what the small pockets in jeans are made for