Egypt 20, 50, 100, and 500 Piastres 1938

There is a slight chance, Sally, that you have the coin pictured, but you probably have another of the several dozen Egyptian coins with the king in a fez and military uniform. It would be best if you sent a scan or a photo. Then we can be of much more assistance. The coin shown in minted in gold. There are also coins with similar patterns minted in silver.

The coin in the picture is a beautiful 50 piastres piece commemorating the royal wedding. This was also minted in 20, 100, and 500 piastres denominations.

The primary value of these coins comes from their gold content. Use Kitco.com to find the current price of gold, then use the data below to compute the value of your coin:

20 piastres, 14 mm diameter, 0.048 ounces of gold
50 piastres, 20 mm diameter, 0.120 ounces of gold
100 piastres, 23 mm diameter, 0.239 ounces of gold
500 piastres, 38 mm diameter, 1.956 ounces of gold

For example, using a current gold value of $2000 per troy ounce, a 20 piastre coin is worth 0.048 x 2000 = $96 US dollars.

Nice coins gain a collector premium. These coins were struck almost 80 years ago, and they are difficult to find without impaired luster and a few minor nicks and scratches.

20 PIASTRES:
worn: gold value
average circulated: add $25 to gold value
well preserved: add $50 to gold value
fully uncirculated: add $120 to gold value

50 PIASTRES:
worn: gold value
average circulated: add $50 to gold value
well preserved: add $75 to gold value
fully uncirculated: add $200 to gold value

100 PIASTRES:
worn: add $10 to gold value
average circulated: add $100 to gold value
well preserved: add $150 to gold value
fully uncirculated: add $180 to gold value

500 PIASTRES:

worn: add $20 to gold value
average circulated: add $100 to gold value
well preserved: add $500 to gold value
fully uncirculated: add $1300 to gold value

Proof issues of the 500 piastre coin catalog at $3400.

You can read the date on these coins using this one-to-one mapping of eastern Arabic numerals. The coin in the photo has two dates: 1938 and 1357. Which one is right? They both are. The 1357 date uses a Muslim calendar based on a lunar (not solar) year and starts when Prophet Mohammed was alive in the 600s AD.
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