The omission of "Misr" (the Arabic name for Egypt) from this issue reflects the political turbulence of 1958, the year Egypt and Syria merged to form the United Arab Republic. The new state deliberately suppressed Egypt-specific national identifiers on coinage during the union's early months, creating a transitional type that circulated only briefly before revised designs were introduced. KM#396 is the scarcer of the two 1958 millieme varieties precisely because the "without Misr" dies were retired quickly once the UAR's official coinage policy was formalized.
The omission of "Misr" (the Arabic name for Egypt) from this issue reflects the political turbulence of 1958, the year Egypt and Syria merged to form the United Arab Republic. The new state deliberately suppressed Egypt-specific national identifiers on coinage during the union's early months, creating a transitional type that circulated only briefly before revised designs were introduced. KM#396 is the scarcer of the two 1958 millieme varieties precisely because the "without Misr" dies were retired quickly once the UAR's official coinage policy was formalized.