10 Piastres

Egypt's wartime currency situation was complicated by British military authority, which effectively overrode civilian financial administration after 1940. These small-denomination government notes were emergency issues intended to relieve coin shortages that worsened dramatically once Mediterranean supply chains collapsed and metal was redirected to the war effort.

Pick 166 is part of a series that remained in circulation well beyond its intended life span — the coins it was meant to substitute simply never returned in adequate quantities. Later impressions show accelerated paper wear consistent with handling far heavier than the notes were designed to sustain.