acanthite
User is Offline
Joined: 08 May 2007
Posts: 261
Location: Western hemisphere
|
| Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2007 8:05 pm Post subject: Egypt during the Great War |
|
|
For those of you up on your WW I history, you know that the Ottoman Empire sided with the Central Powers. Though at the time the British were managing Egyptian affairs, Egypt was seen as a weak link for the allies due to rising nationalism, and strategically critical due to the Suez Canal (Egypt was surrounded by possessions of the Ottomans). Therefore martial law was declared in 1914, and a pliant sultan (Sultan Hussein Kamel) was emplaced by the British from 1914 until his death in 1917.
The coin is a 2 millemes piece from Egypt, dated 1916 AD. Holed, composition copper-nickel alloy. The obverse features the script at the top naming Hussein Kamel, below 'egypt sultan', with the date in Hijri split across the middle 13 35 AH (same as 1916 AD). Another date, at the very bottom, is 1333 AH, or the year Hussein Kamel became sultan (ascension year - 1914 AD).
The reverse displays the word at top 'millemes' in Arabic and again in English at the bottom. The number two is in both Arabic and English. This was the first year Egypt issued coins with writing in English.
Last edited by acanthite on Thu Dec 27, 2007 8:10 am; edited 1 time in total |
|
