1 Egyptian Pound EGY Banknote (Kingdom / Early Republic) 1952-1960

1 Egyptian Pound Egyptian Pound (Issued 1952-1960)

Intaglio and letterpress printing techniques dominated banknote production during the 1950s, and this National Bank of Egypt one pound note displays the hallmarks of both processes in its crisp, raised line work and precisely rendered Arabic script. The era’s printing presses produced fine guilloché latticework through mechanical pantograph engraving, a method clearly visible in the intricate repeating patterns bordering this note. Watermark technology was standard security practice at this time, with the blank oval reserve on the front designed to reveal a hidden image when held to the light. Serial numbering in multiple positions further reflects the anti-counterfeiting conventions of mid-twentieth-century central bank printing programmes.

On the front, the dominant feature is an engraved portrait of the Great Sphinx of Giza, rendered in rich reddish-brown and mauve tones to the right-hand side of the note, depicted in a three-quarter view that conveys the monument’s iconic ancient Egyptian countenance with considerable engraving detail across the headdress, facial planes, and neckline. The overall ground colour of the front face is a soft lavender-pink, overlaid with pale guilloché patterning that fills the central and left portions of the note. A large blank oval watermark window occupies the left-centre of the design, framed by curved Arabic text and decorative scrollwork. The issuing authority, البنك الأهلي المصري (the National Bank of Egypt), is printed in bold Arabic script across the top of the note within a dark decorative panel. Denomination text reading جنيه مصري (Egyptian Pound) appears prominently in stylised Arabic calligraphy at the centre of the note. Serial numbers reading 109099 appear in three positions — upper centre, lower left, and lower right — accompanied by prefix characters in Arabic numerals. Multiple lines of Arabic text set out the legal promise to pay and the regulatory authority of the issue, including a reference to the law governing the note’s issuance. Signature panels appear at the lower centre, bearing manuscript-style printed signatures. The borders are composed of repeating fine-line geometric and floral engraved patterns in blue-violet, framing the entire composition.

The reverse is printed in a single deep blue-indigo ink throughout, creating a strong tonal contrast that is characteristic of the period’s security printing conventions. The central vignette occupies the majority of the reverse and depicts the Temple of Philae, the ancient Ptolemaic island temple complex on the Nile at Aswan, shown rising from the surrounding water with its columned hypostyle halls, pylons, and colonnaded courtyards rendered in fine engraved line work that captures considerable architectural detail including the reflected light on the water surface below. The engraving conveys depth and texture through closely spaced parallel lines and cross-hatching across the stonework, columns, and sky. Above the central vignette, the text NATIONAL BANK OF EGYPT is printed in clear Roman lettering within a framed panel. Below the vignette, the denomination ONE EGYPTIAN POUND is inscribed in English within a similarly framed lower border. A large circular blank area to the right of the central image serves as the watermark zone. The outer border is composed of repeating engraved floral and foliate ornamental patterns that mirror the decorative register of the front face, and the numeral 1 appears in the upper corners of the reverse design.

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