Africa

Silver coins from Egypt under King Farouk

Three of the African coins in this category are silver 10 piastres from Egypt, dated 1937 and 1939. They were struck under King Farouk, who came to the throne in 1936 and ruled until 1952. At the time the Egyptian pound was divided into 100 piastres, so the 10 piastres was a substantial silver coin: about 14 grams in .833 silver.

The coins carry the king’s portrait on one side and the value and dates on the other. Like other Egyptian coins of the period, they are dated in both the Islamic (Hijri) and the Christian calendar, which makes them a good introduction to reading coins from the Arabic-speaking world.

The South African Republic and Paul Kruger

The fourth coin is a 2½ shillings 1892 from the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, the Boer republic in the Transvaal. 1892 was the first year of the republic’s own coinage, with President Paul Kruger on the obverse and the arms of the republic on the reverse. The first coins were struck partly in Berlin, because the republic’s own mint in Pretoria was not yet ready. On some early dies the ox-wagon in the arms was shown with a double shaft instead of a single one, and the varieties of the 1892 series are well known among collectors of South African coins. The republic and its coinage came to an end with the Boer War (1899–1902).

What should you look for in African coins?

For silver coins like these, condition and surface matter most. Look at the high points of the portrait, such as the hair and cheek, where wear shows first. Original toning is preferred to cleaned, shiny surfaces, as cleaning leaves fine hairlines that lower the value. Each coin is described with its condition and catalogue reference.

For paper money from the same continent, see African banknotes, or browse more coins from the Middle East.