A Brief Introduction to Egyptian Coins and Currency

by Peter Watson

There are many books that discuss the coins from specific periods of Egyptian history, but none that considers the coins from the whole of that history. This work aims to provide such an account, covering the currency from ancient times, through the Ptolemaic, Roman, Byzantine, Arabic, and Ottoman periods to modern times. An important feature of the work is the illustration of a selection of about 150 coins and banknotes, which represent the major types throughout that history. Adjunct to this selection of these illustrations is a "key" which provides further numismatic detail about each of the coins in it. A difficulty with Egyptian coinage is that it includes inscriptions in many languages. Some notes in the "key" to the coins and in the appendices are provided to give a little help in this. In addition to providing a chronological account of the currency, the coins and notes are related to aspects of the daily lives of the people of each period and also to some aspects of the development of the state, particularly its architecture.

108 pages, Paperback

First published October 16, 2014

About the author

Peter Watson was educated at the universities of Durham, London and Rome, and was awarded scholarships in Italy and the United States.

After a stint as Deputy Editor of New Society magazine, he was for four years part of the Sunday Times ‘Insight’ team of investigative journalists. He wrote the daily Diary column of the London Times before becoming that paper’s New York correspondent. He returned to London to write a column about the art world for the Observer and then at The Sunday Times.

He has published three exposes in the world of art and antiquities and from 1997 to 2007 was a Research Associate at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge. He has published twelve books of non-fiction and seven novels, some under the pen name of Mackenzie Ford. He lives in London where his interests include theatre, opera and fishing.

Awards, Etc.

Psychology Prize
Durham University, 1961

Italian Government Music Scholarship
Rome University, 1965

United States Government Bursary “for future world leaders”
To study the psychiatric profession and its links to the administration of justice

Books of the Year

Psychology Today Magazine, 1978, for War on the Mind
Daily Mail, 1990, for Wisdom and Strength
Independent on Sunday, for A Terrible Beauty, 2000
Times Literary Supplement, for Ideas, 2005
Time Magazine, for The Medici Conspiracy, 2006
Queen’s Pardon
Copy from Patrick Meehan after I had written a series of articles which brought about his release from prison after he had been wrongly convicted of murder, 1976.

Gold Dagger – Crime Writers’ Association of Great Britain
For The Caravaggio Conspiracy, 1983

Beacon Award – SAFE Award – Saving Antiquities for Everyone
For The Medici Conspiracy, 2006

US Library Association
The Great Divide.

Emmy Nomination
‘The Caravaggio Conspiracy, 1984.

Best sellers

The Caravaggio Conspiracy
Crusade
Landscape of Lies
Sotheby’s: The Inside Story
Nureyev
Lectures

Peter Watson has lectured at the following venues:

Universities

Cambridge
Berkeley
London
UCLA
Birmingham
Georgia
Georgia
Chicago
Birmingham
Santiago de Chile
York
Madrid
Harvard
Tufts
Military Bases

Fort Bragg
Private Institutions in

Cleveland
Berlin
Chicago
Belfast
Los Angeles
New York
Washington
Boston
Palm Beach
Other venues

Smithsonian Institution
National Museum, Copenhagen
Royal Society of Arts
Rugby School
Royal Library, Copenhagen
Festivals

Edinburgh
Oxford
Dartington
York

Reviews

[Joe Sabet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too short, and mostly unhelpful for future use. The pre-Roman and Roman provincial parts were decent but I got lost once the Islamic influence began and trying to differentiate the different coin types afterwards. Too much ground to cover in only 50 pages or so of text, the rest just semi-decent pictures of coin types. Hard to tell difference between silver and bronze and gold coins in pictures. I would have outlined and emphasized the main coins each period more clearly to help the beginner, since it’s likely after reading not to be very familiar with Egyptian coinage, especially after the Romans left