Egypt 1/40 and 1/20 Qirsh 1884 to 1913

Egypt minted these 1/40 and 1/20 qirsh in copper, starting during Ottoman days, 1293 on the Islamic calendar (AH), 1876 Gregorian (AD), and continuing to AH1327, or 1909AD.

There are two denominations, 1/40 qirsh (or 1 para) and 1/20 qirsh (or 2 para):

1/40 QIRSH: about 16 mm diameter
1/20 QIRSH: about 20 mm diameter

The AH dates appear on the side with the Arabic legend. They are:

AH1293: reign of Abdul Hamid II
AH1327: reign of Muhammad V

In addition to the starting dates AH1203 and AH1327, there are small 'regnal year' digits on the side with the toughra. To get a full date, add the regnal year to the starting year. So a coin dated 1293/10 is AH1303, or 1884AD.

There are a few exceptions (see below), but typical values for these coins run like this:

1/40 AND 1/20 QIRSH, 1293 AND 1327 START DATE:
worn: $2 US dollar approximate catalog value
average circulated: $6
well preserved: $15
fully uncirculated: $30

According to the Standard Catalog, the exceptions to the values above are:

1/40 QIRSH, 1293/18: $100 well preserved
1/20 QIRSH, 1293/18: $40 well preserved
1/40 QIRSH, 1293/29: $25 well preserved
1/20 QIRSH, 1293/20: $40 well preserved
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