The period of 1950-60s saw political movements all around the Arabic world spanning 25 countries contained in the West Asia and North African regions to unite against the rising power of Zionist Israel under the banner of Pan-Arabism. The proponents of Pan-Arabism, alternatively called Arabic nationalism, viewed the world as divided into two parts, Arabic and non-Arabic and aimed to unite it all Arabic countries under a utopian welfare state with socialism as their main ideology.
The most practical political achievement of this movement was the formation of political federations which were united against common enemies and interests. One such union was between Egypt and Syria under the auspices of the United Arabic Republic which began in 1958 under the leadership of the dynamic Egyptian leader, President Gamal Abdel Nasser and ended prematurely with the exit of Syria in 1961.
I came across a coin with the Arabic legend ‘al-Jamhooriyat al-Arabiya Mutahidah’ on its obverse (see left image) in the upper line which is translated as ‘United Arabic Republic’ making it amply clear that the coin was a joint issue of Egypt and Syria under U.A.R.
The most practical political achievement of this movement was the formation of political federations which were united against common enemies and interests. One such union was between Egypt and Syria under the auspices of the United Arabic Republic which began in 1958 under the leadership of the dynamic Egyptian leader, President Gamal Abdel Nasser and ended prematurely with the exit of Syria in 1961.
I came across a coin with the Arabic legend ‘al-Jamhooriyat al-Arabiya Mutahidah’ on its obverse (see left image) in the upper line which is translated as ‘United Arabic Republic’ making it amply clear that the coin was a joint issue of Egypt and Syria under U.A.R.
The central legend ascribes the denomination ’10 Qirush’ which was a sub-unit of the Eqyptian pound as 1 Egyptian Pound was equal to 100 Qirush.
This Qirush is similar to the Ghirsh of the Saudi Arabian Riyal which we have discussed in the post of Saudi Arabia and is a remnant of the earlier Ottoman currency unit, Kuruş which in turn came from the Italian/Venetian silver Grossi, a coin which was the trade currency of the Middle East prior to the Venetian gold ducat or sequins in the early medieval era.
An interesting feature of this coin is inclusion of the term ‘Suriyya’, the Arabic name of Syria, after the ‘10 Qirush’ indicating that this coin was probably issued for exclusive circulation in Syria only.
The geopolitics of the U.A.R. doesn’t interests us here; however, it is interesting to know that the adoption of a common currency would have bound the two states for a longer period; however such a provincial approach to currency points to the fact that the leaders of the two countries were well aware of the temporary nature of the union.
The reverse of the coin shows the coat-of-arms which displays an eagle known as ‘the Eagle of Saladin*’ bearing a shield against its chest with two stars; perched on the legend, ‘al-Jamhooriya al-Arabiyya Muttahidah’ (partially erased on this coin) and the year in common era 1960 on the left and in the Hijri era 1380 on the right in Arabic numerals.
This Qirush is similar to the Ghirsh of the Saudi Arabian Riyal which we have discussed in the post of Saudi Arabia and is a remnant of the earlier Ottoman currency unit, Kuruş which in turn came from the Italian/Venetian silver Grossi, a coin which was the trade currency of the Middle East prior to the Venetian gold ducat or sequins in the early medieval era.
An interesting feature of this coin is inclusion of the term ‘Suriyya’, the Arabic name of Syria, after the ‘10 Qirush’ indicating that this coin was probably issued for exclusive circulation in Syria only.
The geopolitics of the U.A.R. doesn’t interests us here; however, it is interesting to know that the adoption of a common currency would have bound the two states for a longer period; however such a provincial approach to currency points to the fact that the leaders of the two countries were well aware of the temporary nature of the union.
The reverse of the coin shows the coat-of-arms which displays an eagle known as ‘the Eagle of Saladin*’ bearing a shield against its chest with two stars; perched on the legend, ‘al-Jamhooriya al-Arabiyya Muttahidah’ (partially erased on this coin) and the year in common era 1960 on the left and in the Hijri era 1380 on the right in Arabic numerals.
The 10 Qirush coin is a small denomination and was probably exchanged as small change in the Syrian territory for tea or small snack in 1960s. Today, we see that the Syrian Arabic Republic has adopted a variant of the emblem** as its coat-of-arms with a Syrian Hawk known as ‘Hawk of Qureish’ with the two stars intact albeit with two notable differences, the hawk’s head is turned to the right as opposed to left on our coin and the name of the republic has been changed to ‘al-Jamhooriyat al-Arabiyya Suriyya’ pointing to the evolution begun by this coin during its heyday in the markets of Damascus.
* the legendary medieval ruler of Egypt and Syria
**The evolution of this emblem can be seen on the link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coat_of_arms_of_Syria
* the legendary medieval ruler of Egypt and Syria
**The evolution of this emblem can be seen on the link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coat_of_arms_of_Syria
Also, did the two countries jointly issue any other coinage? I have some extremely odd-looking but very ornate Arabic coins I cannot find parents for.
ReplyDeleteMr. Grunty, please send the images (well photographed ones) to my email drkalra1@gmail.com
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