Few people in Egypt collect old coins and banknotes as a hobby. "This is the hobby of kings and the queen of hobbies," says the Egyptian expert and the author of the first Encyclopaedia and Catalogue of the Egyptian Banknote, Magdi Hanafi. "It took me fifteen years to prepare the first edition of the book in 2004; the second edition appeared in 2005, while I'm going to publish an encyclopaedia about coins at the end of this year," adds Hanafi, who born in 1958 and is a member of the International Banknote Society (IBNS), explaining that banknote encyclopaedia includes a price guide for notes. While the encyclopaedia is one of the most comprehensive of its type, specialist collectors of Egyptian banknotes will be amazed to find charts containing the prefix, date and signature combinations for all issues, along with estimates of the number of notes produced. In 2004, Hanafi received the Book of the Year award from the IBNS for his book on the Egyptian banknotes. "The level of detail is superb. This is destined to be the standard work for Egyptian notes for a long, long time," he says proudly. For some people, collecting old coins and banknotes can be a business. Most collectors try and purchase banknotes that are in the best possible condition and then keep their eyes open for better ones, upgrading their collections whenever possible. Collector should be aware of certain terms, such as rare (high price, few especially in old issues); scarce (moderate price, especially few in those issued in the modern issues); and crossover (which occurs when the banknote is identical in denomination, the prefix, the serial number but differs in signature of the governor of the bank, the type of safety thread and design of the paper or the issue date). "You may opt to categorise them according to date, country of origin, watermark, issuing printer, signatures, paper material and size, grade, and other distinct features," Hanafi told the Egyptian Mail in an interview. "How does a collector evaluate the banknote he is purchasing? The beginner should be aware of whether the note is good, fine, very fine, fair, very fair, poor, according to grading standards. "In order to ascertain the grade of a note, it is essential to examine it out of its holder and under a good light. Move the note around so that the light bounces off at different angles. Try holding it up obliquely so that the note is almost even with your eye as you look up at the light," Hanafi explained. Hard-to-see folds or slight creases will show up under such examination, while some individuals also lightly feel along the surface of the note to detect creasing. "Grading is an important term for the collector; he should detect that before buying the banknotes," he added. In 1899, the National Bank of Egypt introduced notes in denominations of 50 piastres, 1, 5, 10, 50 and 100 Egyptian pounds. Between 1916 and 1917, 25 piastre notes were added, together with notes for 5 and 10 piastres. Issued intermittently, the 5 and 10 piastres are today produced by the Ministry of Finance. In 1961, the Central Bank of Egypt took over from the National Bank and issued notes in denominations of 25 and 50 piastres, 1 and 5 pounds, while 10 and 20 pounds notes were introduced in 1976, followed by 100 gineih in 1978, 50 pounds in 1993 and 200 Egyptian pounds in 2007. All Egyptian banknotes are bilingual, with Arabic texts and Eastern Arabic numerals on the obverse and English and Hindu Arabic numerals on the reverse. "What's interesting and attractive about many of the old banknotes is the stories attached to them. For example, the first paper pound had a picture of two camels on it," he comments, adding that about 350,000 were issued, while each one today is worth between LE10,000 and LE100,000. "It is also said that there was a picture of Am Adris, Sultan Fouad's gardener, on it; he had a dream that the Sultan Fouad would one day become king." In December 2006, local newspapers reported that there were plans to introduce a 200 and 500 pound note. As mentioned above, the LE200 note is now in circulation. Last summer, the one pound and 50 piastre notes began to be phased out, being replaced by coins. Presumably the 25 piastre notes can expect a similar fate. Several unofficial popular names are used to refer to different values of Egyptian currency. These include nikla for 2 milliemes, ta'rifa for 5 milliemes, shilin for 5 piastres, bariza for 10 piastres, and reyal for 20 piastres. Meanwhile, LE100 is nicknamed an astik (rubberband); LE1,000 a bako (pack); LE1 million an arnab (rabbit); and LE1 billion a feel (elephant). Printed in Arabic and English, The Egyptian Banknote was prepared and compiled by Eng. Magdi Hanafi, with the English text written by Dr Ali Mehilba. Printed in full colour, the volume contains abundant illustrations of the notes, with depictions of every type of banknote produced by the National Bank of Egypt and its successor the Central Bank of Egypt. (Five- and ten-piastre notes produced by the Egyptian Treasury are not included in this work.) The landmark volume contains profuse illustrations of varieties and details of various notes, along with a smattering of trials, proofs and specimens. One US dollar = LE5.5
