Item: i110743

Authentic Coin of:

Egypt
1917 H (1335 AH) Silver 5 Piastres 26mm (6.81 grams) 0.833 Silver (0.1875 oz. ASW)
Reference: KM# 318.1
السلطان حسين كامل ١٣٣٣ , Sultan Hussein Kamil legend with accession date.
السلطنة المصرية 5 PIASTRES ١٠ قروش 1917 ١٣٣٥, Value and inscription within wreath, year below.

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Sultan Hussein Kamel (Arabic: السلطان حسين كامل‎, Turkish: Sultan Hüseyin Kamil Paşa; November 1853 – 9 October 1917) was the Sultan of Egypt from 19 December 1914 to 9 October 1917, during the British protectorate over Egypt.

Hussein Kamel was the second son of Khedive Isma’il Pasha, who ruled Egypt from 1863 to 1879. Hussein Kamel was declared Sultan of Egypt on 19 December 1914, after the occupying British forces had deposed his nephew, Khedive Abbas Hilmi II, on 5 November 1914. The newly created Sultanate of Egypt was declared a British protectorate. This brought to an end the de jure Ottoman sovereignty over Egypt, which had been largely nominal since Muhammad Ali’s seizure of power in 1805.

Upon Hussein Kamel’s death, his only son, Prince Kamal al-Din Husayn, declined the succession, and Hussein Kamel’s brother Ahmed Fuad ascended the throne as Fuad I. At the beginning of Naguib Mahfouz’s novel Palace Walk, Ahmad Abd al-Jawwad says “What a fine man Prince Kamal al-Din Husayn is! Do you know what he did? He refused to ascend the throne of his late father so long as the British are in charge.”

Stereoscope photographs of the coronation procession and burial procession of Sultan Hussein are available on the Rare Books and Special Collections Digital Library of the American University in Cairo.

Honours

Domestic

• Founder and Sovereign of the Order of Muhammad Ali
• Founder and Sovereign of the Order of Ismail
• Founder and Sovereign of the Order of the Nile
• Founder and Sovereign of the Order of the Virtues

Foreign

• Order of Osmanieh, 1st Class
• Order of the Medjidie, 1st Class
• Knight of the Order of Franz Joseph, 1st Class, 1869
• Grand Cross of the Order of the Sword, 1891
• Honorary Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB), 1914
• Grand Cross of the Legion d’Honneur, 1916
• Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, 1916
• Grand Cross of the Order of the Redeemer, 1916
• Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown, 1916
• Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold II, 1917

Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia by a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt is a Mediterranean country bordered by the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Gulf of Aqaba to the east, the Red Sea to the east and south, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. Across the Gulf of Aqaba lies Jordan, across the Red Sea lies Saudi Arabia, and across the Mediterranean lie Greece, Turkey and Cyprus, although none share a land border with Egypt.

Egypt has one of the longest histories of any country, tracing its heritage back to the 6th-4th millennia BCE. Considered a cradle of civilisation, Ancient Egypt saw some of the earliest developments of writing, agriculture, urbanisation, organised religion and central government. Iconic monuments such as the Giza Necropolis and its Great Sphinx, as well the ruins of Memphis, Thebes, Karnak, and the Valley of the Kings, reflect this legacy and remain a significant focus of scientific and popular interest. Egypt’s long and rich cultural heritage is an integral part of its national identity, which has endured, and often assimilated, various foreign influences, including Greek, Persian, Roman, Arab, Ottoman Turkish, and Nubian. Egypt was an early and important centre of Christianity, but was largely Islamised in the seventh century and remains a predominantly Muslim country, albeit with a significant Christian minority.

From the 16th to the beginning of the 20th century, Egypt was ruled by foreign imperial powers: The Ottoman Empire and the British Empire. Modern Egypt dates back to 1922, when it gained nominal independence from the British Empire as a monarchy. However, British military occupation of Egypt continued, and many Egyptians believed that the monarchy was an instrument of British colonialism. Following the 1952 revolution, Egypt expelled British soldiers and bureaucrats and ended British occupation, nationalized the British-held Suez Canal, exiled King Farouk and his family, and declared itself a republic. In 1958 it merged with Syria to form the United Arab Republic, which dissolved in 1961. Throughout the second half of the 20th century, Egypt endured social and religious strife and political instability, fighting several armed conflicts with Israel in 1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973, and occupying the Gaza Strip intermittently until 1967. In 1978, Egypt signed the Camp David Accords, officially withdrawing from the Gaza Strip and recognising Israel. The country continues to face challenges, from political unrest, including the recent 2011 revolution and its aftermath, to terrorism and economic underdevelopment. Egypt’s current government is a presidential republic headed by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, which has been described by a number of watchdogs as authoritarian.

Islam is the official religion of Egypt and Arabic is its official language. With over 95 million inhabitants, Egypt is the most populous country in North Africa, the Middle East, and the Arab world, the third-most populous in Africa (after Nigeria and Ethiopia), and the fifteenth-most populous in the world. The great majority of its people live near the banks of the Nile River, an area of about 40,000 square kilometres (15,000 sq mi), where the only arable land is found. The large regions of the Sahara desert, which constitute most of Egypt’s territory, are sparsely inhabited. About half of Egypt’s residents live in urban areas, with most spread across the densely populated centres of greater Cairo, Alexandria and other major cities in the Nile Delta.

The sovereign state of Egypt is a transcontinental country considered to be a regional power in North Africa, the Middle East and the Muslim world, and a middle power worldwide. Egypt’s economy is one of the largest and most diversified in the Middle East, and is projected to become one of the largest in the world in the 21st century. In 2016, Egypt overtook South Africa and became Africa’s second largest economy (after Nigeria). Egypt is a founding member of the United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, Arab League, African Union, and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.