10 Qirsh Diversion of the Nile

The 1964 diversion of the Nile was the first phase of the Aswan High Dam project — specifically the moment Soviet-backed engineers redirected the river through a series of tunnels to allow construction of the main dam body. Nasser framed it as a national triumph, particularly pointed given that Britain and the United States had withdrawn their offer to fund the dam in 1956, triggering the Suez Crisis. Egypt issued commemorative coins marking several stages of the dam's construction throughout the early 1960s, this being among them.