Egypt now a coin country

One of the interesting oddities of Egypt, until now, is that it was the most coin-free country I had ever visited. There simply weren’t ever any coins in my pockets. They were all of such low value that, on those rare occasions when I received them as tips, I would give them to the first begging person I saw. (You could at least use them for a piece or two of pita bread at the government bakeries, but it’s not of the quality-level of bread that you or I would want to purchase and eat.)

That has suddenly changed. 1-Pound coins have been experimented with over the past couple of years. They look sort of like the 2-Euro coin, with a different-colored center, but King Tut is on one side.

But the other day, I noticed that I had 23 of those coins in my pocket! That’s more the sort of thing that happens in Canada and the U.S. and often with Euros as well.

Now, the 1-Pound notes seem to be almost gone. I just asked an Egyptian about this, and she says the government did make an official announcement about this. I guess I missed it.

I like those tan-colored 1-Pound notes (worth maybe 15 Euro cents), which have a sort of desert feel to them. But they are undoubtedly a major waste of money to reprint continually.