50 Qirsh / Piastres New Asyut Barrage

The New Asyut Barrage, completed in 2011 after roughly a decade of construction, replaced the original British-built Asyut Barrage dating to 1902 — one of the earliest large-scale hydraulic works on the Nile. The old structure had become functionally inadequate for modern irrigation demands across Upper Egypt, where agricultural water control remains a matter of national priority rather than mere infrastructure maintenance.

Egypt's practice of commemorating Nile hydraulic works on circulating coinage goes back decades, reflecting how central water management is to the state's political identity.