Egyptian pound is now a coin instead of banknotes

Finally it was officially today in Ahram newspaper that the Egyptian, the 1 LE bill and the 0.50 (50 piasters) bill will be replaced by coins effective 1st of June 2006. The equivalent papernotes will be taken out of the market eventually. The 1 LE coin is consists of a copper-nickel outer ring and a copper-aluminium inner core. It will be similar to the Canadian toonie and the british sterling 2 pound coin. It will bear the face of Tutankhamoun and the word 1 LE in Arabic on its back. Its radius will be 25 millimetres (1 inch") and weigh 8 grams.

In addition to the 1 LE coin, there will also be a 0.50 LE coin that will also replace the banknote. The coin will consist of a copper-aluminium alloy with the same radius but a 6.5 grams weight. Queen Cleopatra would feature on that coin.

I remember I read about the new coins last year, in addition to a 200 LE note but nothing has been mention of it.

I remember I had this conversation with a friend of mine commenting on the announcement of the new coins last year expressing his fears that the taxi drivers will refuse taking 3 LE in coins and will demand a higher fare then. I guess this will be a problem with people accepting coins that has a value given that there exists a coins with almost a higher value than the 20 LE bill like the 2 pounds coin in Britain. However, the Egyptian pound has suffered a lot of devaluation last years that people began to look down on it. If this is the case, then why not introduce a 5 LE coin?

I also have some plans for the new 1 LE coin. Since we are in Egypt and it is produced in Egypt by a governmental entity, the quality of the new coin is expected to be crappy. I wil try to dismantle the new coin by putting it in the deep freezer. I expect the outer rim to separate from the core. Till then.