25 Piastres EGY Banknote (Kingdom / Early Republic) 1952-1957

25 Piastres Egyptian Pound (Issued 1952-1957)

The National Bank of Egypt, founded in 1898 as the country’s central monetary authority, held the exclusive right to issue banknotes throughout the late Kingdom and into the early Republic period, making it the principal institution underpinning Egypt’s financial sovereignty during one of the most transformative eras in the nation’s modern history. Established under a royal charter and operating from Cairo, the bank managed currency issuance across a period that saw the end of the monarchy under King Farouk and the transition to a republic following the 1952 revolution led by the Free Officers Movement. The notes produced during this transitional window of 1952 to 1957 are among the last to bear the bank’s name in its pre-nationalisation form, before the Central Bank of Egypt was established in 1961. This 25 Piastres note therefore represents a precise and historically charged moment in Egyptian monetary history.

On the front, the note is dominated by a finely engraved portrait of the ancient Egyptian Sphinx of Giza rendered within a circular vignette positioned to the right of centre, depicted in a dark olive-green intaglio engraving that captures the stone headdress, serene facial expression, and ceremonial beard with considerable detail and depth. The background of the note is covered in an intricate guilloché pattern of repeating geometric and floral motifs rendered in pale grey-green tones, which fill the entire field of the note and serve as a fine anti-counterfeiting measure. At the top of the note, the issuing authority’s name is printed in Arabic script — البنك الأهلي المصري (Al-Bank Al-Ahli Al-Masri, meaning the National Bank of Egypt) — along with further Arabic text describing the denomination and legal tender obligations. The denomination numeral “25” appears prominently in the upper left corner and the lower right corner, accompanied by the Arabic denomination text خمسة وعشرون قرشاً (twenty-five piastres) rendered in a large, stylised Arabic script at the centre of the note. A six-digit serial number, 535157, appears twice — once in the upper left area and once along the lower right — printed in red ink. A date reference visible on the note reads القاهرة في ٥ أبريل ١٩٥٥ (Cairo, 5 April 1955), situating this particular example within the 1952–1957 series. Handwritten or printed signatures of authorised bank officials appear beneath the central Arabic text, providing the note’s formal authentication. The overall colour palette of the front is a combination of deep olive-green, grey, and dull red, with the guilloché ground lending a subtle layered texture across the entire surface.

The reverse is printed in a single olive-green ink and presents a beautifully detailed engraved vignette of a large Islamic mosque and minaret, identifiable by its architectural form as the Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi Mosque in Alexandria, rendered with fine line engraving that captures the arched doorways, ribbed domes, tall slender minaret, and the open forecourt in considerable detail. Flanking the central architectural vignette on both the left and right sides are stylised Egyptian papyrus plant motifs rising vertically from circular rosette bases, their fan-shaped heads rendered in the same olive-green engraving style and providing a strong sense of symmetry and national identity. The border of the reverse is composed of a repeating fine-line decorative frame running the full perimeter of the note. At the top centre, “NATIONAL BANK OF EGYPT” is printed in clear serif capital lettering in English, and to the upper left and upper right, the denomination “25 PIASTRES” appears in matching typography. A horizontal band of fine parallel line engraving runs along the lower portion of the note beneath the mosque vignette, adding further texture and depth to the composition. The overall design of the reverse is restrained and monochromatic, relying entirely on the quality of the engraving work to convey authority and detail.

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