What are ancient Egyptian coins called?
James Williams
Updated on April 08, 2026
The gold stater (Egyptian: nfr-nb, “Nefer-nub”, meaning “fine gold”) was the first coin ever minted in ancient Egypt, around 360 BC during the reign of pharaoh Teos of the 30th Dynasty.
What is the Egyptian currency called?
Egyptian pound
Egypt/Currencies
What did ancient Egyptians do for money?
The ancient Egyptians had no coins or paper money; instead, they used things like grain as their money system.
Did ancient Egypt have gold coins?
Egyptians used gold currency The earliest money that we know about was made of pure gold and dates back to the 3rd millennium BC in Egypt. The gold had standardised weights and values. The smaller amounts, called deben, had the shape of golden rings.
How did the Egyptians get paid?
Egypt had no cash economy until the coming of the Persians in 525 BCE. The people worked the land, the government collected the bounty and then distributed it back to the people according to their need and merit.
When did the Egyptians start using money?
500 BC
Ancient Egyptian Coins Design & Symbolism Before ancient Egypt started officially using coins as their official currency in 500 BC, the Egyptians used a system of value based on the weights of various metals like silver and copper. These metals were used to determine the value of other materials.
What is the rarest coin ever?
1849 Double Eagle Gold Coin The one remaining specimen is carefully preserved at National Numismatic Collections at the Smithsonian Institution. The 1849 Double Eagle is currently the rarest and most valuable coin in the world, with an estimated worth of nearly $20 million.
What kind of coins are used in the Egyptian pound?
Silver 2, 5, 10 and 20 piastre coins continued to be issued, and a gold 1 pound coin was reintroduced. Between 1922 and 1923, the gold coinage was extended to include 20 and 50 piastre and 1 and 5 pound coins. In 1924, bronze replaced cupro-nickel in the 1 millieme coin and the holes were removed from the other cupro-nickel coins.
When was the first coin made in Egypt?
The Earliest True Ancient Pharaonic Egyptian Coin! Egypt, Pharaonic Kingdom. Uncertain pharaoh (s), c. 5th–mid 4th centuries BC. Rare Silver Tetradrachm, imitating Athens.
Who are the famous people on Egyptian coins?
The coins feature a mixture of famous Egyptian leaders such as Pharaoh Ramesses II, King Tutankhamen and Queen Nefertiti, as well as figures from Egyptian mythology including the God Horus, and the Sphinx of Hatshepsut.
What kind of silver did the ancient Egyptians use?
Unlike the Greeks, Egypt had no silver mines, and had to import silver for use in the production of coins. This made it too expensive for widespread use, but some silver was used for coins up to the time of Cleopatra and the Roman conquest. Silver coins had however been debased to 33% purity by the early BC years.