Note 6 — 65. From Tripoli to Alexandria viâ Benghazi and Derna.
Reading edition
Money. The Egyptian Pound (£E, ‘livre égyptienne’) contains 100 Piastres (pias.) of 10 Millièmes (mill.) each. The Arabic for piastre is kirsh, pl. kurûsh (pronounced in Cairo ’irsh and ’urûsh), but the European name is known everywhere. Petty traders often distinguish between the ‘great piastre’ of 10 mill, (kirsh sâgh) and the ‘little piastre’ of 5 mill. (kirsh tarifa). In the following data the ‘great’ is always understood.
The Egyptian pound is worth ca. 20s. 6d., the piastre nearly 2½d. Egyptian gold coins are rare, their place being taken by the sovereign (ginê inglîsi, 97½ pias.), the French 20 fr. piece (bint, 77 pias.), and the Turkish pound (mejidîyeh, 87½ pias.), which are all legally current.
The silver coins are riyâl masri (20 pias.), nusse riyâl (10 pias.), rub’a riyâl (5 pias., 1s. ¼d., often called a ‘shilling’ at Cairo), kirshen (2 pias.), and kirsh or kirsh sâgh (1 pias.). Nickel: nusse kirsh or kirsh tarifa (½ pias.), 2 mill. (⅕ pias.), and 1 mill. (ca. ¼d.). Copper: ½ and ¼ mill.
Eastern European time, which is about 2 hrs. in advance of Greenwich, is observed in Egypt.