Egyptian Museum in Tahrir to display ancient currencies

CAIRO – 9 December 2018: The Egyptian Museum in Tahrir presents for the first time three collections of ancient antiquities that were stored in the museum's coins department. The coins were used in the barter system and include silver blocks of different weights and forms.

General Director of the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir, Sabah Abdel Razek, pointed out that the selected silver blocks were used in the trading system of ancient times and were cut in certain forms in order to complete the trading process.

This method was the primitive form of trade between ancient societies using metals as a measure to determine the value of a certain commodity. The commodity was exchanged with coins usually made of metals like gold and silver that do not rust or get damaged.

Abdel Razek added that the museum also offers Athenian coins, which represent the last step in the evolution of currencies. The Athenian currencies show the head of Athens on one side and the back of an owl on the other. Some of the Athenian coins have holes in the middle.