Egypt 4, 10, 20, and 40 Para 1862 to 1869

These beautiful coins from Egypt can be pretty rough on Westerners trying to figure them out. CoinQuest is not 100% sure which specific coin SouthernBoy has, but it is likely to be this bronze specimen from the reign of Abdul Aziz (1830 to 1876), Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Use our image of his tughra and the table of Eastern Arabic numerals to help you decode the information on this coin.

There are other coins which look similar to this one, but with significantly different designs. There are also silver coins with similar patterns. This page applies only to bronze coins that look like our picture.

The date on these coin is 1277AH, which is clearly seen on the side without the tughra. Hijri (AH) dates are Islamic dates, based on the life of Mohammed, who lived about 600AD. 1277AH is equivalent to the Gregorian date 1860AD. To this date you must add the 'year' value which appears on the top of the side with the date, a 9 in our picture. Add the year to the date to get the actual AH date, then convert the AH date to AD using a web site such as MuslimPhilosophy.com.

The denomination of the coin, 4, 10, 20, or 40 para, is shown under the tughra. The coin in our picture is a 10 para.

Catalog values of these coins run like this:

4 PARA
worn: $2 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulated: $5
well preserved: $15
fully uncirculated: $35

10 PARA
worn: $2 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulated: $3
well preserved: $15
fully uncirculated: $40
10 para dated year 8 and year 9, with a rose to the right of the tughra, are very rare, worth more than $500 in average circulated condition

20 PARA
worn: $10 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulated: $35
well preserved: $90
20 para dated year 7 and year 11 are rare, cataloging around $400 in average circulated condition

40 PARA
worn: $3 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulated: $10
well preserved: $40
fully uncirculated: $120
40 para dated year 9 and year 11 are very rare, worth $1000 in average circulated condition
40 para dated year 10, with a rose to the right of the tughra, are rare, cataloging near $800 in average circulated condition

All the values above are catalog values. Use our Important Terminology page to properly interpret them relative to actual buy and sell values.
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