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Egyptian pound
Reverse of 1 Egyptian pound Obverse of 100 Egyptian pound
ISO 4217 Code	EGP
User(s)	Egypt
Inflation	6.5%
Source	The World Factbook, 2006 est.
Subunit
1/100	piastre
1/1000	millieme
Symbol	£, LE, or ج.م
piastre	Pt.
Coins	5, 10, 20, 25, 50 piasters, 1 pound
Banknotes	5, 10, 25, 50 piastres, 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 pounds
Central bank	Central Bank of Egypt
Website	www.cbe.org.eg

The Egyptian pound, known in Arabic as the gunaih (el-Gunaih el-Maṣrī الجنيه المصرى) is the currency of Egypt. It is divided into 100 qirsh (قرش) (piastres), or 1000 malleem (مليم) (milliemes).

The ISO 4217 code is EGP. Locally, the abbreviation LE or L.E., which stands for livre égyptienne (French for Egyptian pound) is frequently used. E£ and £E are also much less-frequently used. The Egyptian Arabic name, gunaih, may be related to the English name guinea.

Contents 1 History 2 Coins 3 Banknotes 4 Historical exchange rates 4.1 Pound Sterling 4.2 US Dollar 5 External link

In 1834, a Royal Decree promulgating a Parliamentary Bill was issued providing for the issuing of an Egyptian currency based on a bimetallic base. In 1836 the Egyptian pound was minted and put into circulation.

The pound was originally divided into 100 piastres, each of 40 para. In 1885, the para ceased to be issued and the piastre was divided into tenths (عشرالقرش oshr al-qirsh). These tenths were renamed milliemes in 1916.

The legal exchange rates were fixed by force of law for important foreign currencies which became acceptable in the settlement of internal transactions. Eventually this led to Egypt using a de facto gold standard. (1885-1914)

The National Bank of Egypt issued banknotes for the first time on 3 April 1899. The Central Bank of Egypt and the National Bank of Egypt were unified into the Central Bank of Egypt.

Coins, even for the smallest amounts, are encountered much less frequently than notes but 5, 10, 20, and 25 piastres coins remain legal currency. The most recent 25 piastre coin is holed.

During late spring in 2005, plans were announced to introduce a new 200 pounds note and coins for 50 piastres and 1 pound due to high cumulative inflation.

On June 1, 2006, 50 piastres and 1 pound coins were introduced, with the equivalent banknotes to be scrapped later. The coins bear the faces of Cleopatra VII and Tutankhamun, and the 1 pound coin is bimetallic. Their availabilities are expected to gradually increase in the coming months.

Banknotes worth 5, 10, 25, 50 piastres, 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 pounds are currently in circulation. Notes of 25 piastres and above are issued by the Central Bank of Egypt, while 5 and 10 piastres are issued by the state. The Central Bank website put the two lower valued notes under the category "coins" instead of "banknotes". All Egyptian banknotes are bilingual, with Arabic texts and Eastern Arabic numerals on the obverse and English and Hindu Arabic numerals on the reverse. Obverse designs tend to feature an Islamic building with reverse designs featuring an Ancient Egyptian building. During December 2006, it was mentioned in articles in Al Ahram and Al Akhbar newspapers that there are plans to introduce a 200 and 500 pounds notes.^{[citation needed]}

This table shows the historical value of one pound sterling in Egyptian pounds:

Date	Official Rate
1885 to 1949	EGP 0.97

This table shows the historical value of one U.S. dollar in Egyptian pounds:

Date	Official Rate	Date	Official Rate	Date	Official Rate
1885 to 1939	EGP 0.20	1940 to 1949	EGP 0.25	1950 to 1967	EGP 0.36
1968 to 1978	EGP 0.40	1979 to 1988	EGP 0.60	1989	EGP 0.83
1990	EGP 1.50	1991	EGP 3.00	1992	EGP 3.33
1993 to 1998	EGP 3.39	1999	EGP 3.40	2000	EGP 3.42 to EGP 3.75
2001	EGP 3.75 to EGP 4.50	2002	EGP 4.50 to EGP 4.62	2003	EGP 4.82 to EGP 6.13
2004	EGP 6.13 to EGP 6.28	2005	EGP 6.28 to EGP 5.75	2006	EGP 5.75

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• History of the Egyptian pound

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