Owner Comments:
S1PND AH1400//1980 KM-511 DOCTOR'S DAY:
One of the stated purposes of this set is to trace the spread of western culture throughout the world via coinage. That said this Egyptian 1400/1980, Doctor’s Day 1 Pound commemorative coin, blends at least three cultures into one coin. The first of those cultures is Islamic in nature by virtue of the crescent on the obverse of the coin and the dual Islamic/Gregorian date on the coin’s reverse.
The remaining cultures blending into the imagery of this coin are those of ancient Egypt and Greece. The central device on the obverse of this coin features a seated healer holding a staff in his right hand and an ankh in the other. Since this imagery appears reminiscent to that of ancient Egypt, one may deduce that the practice of medicine is an ancient art. The ankh, also known as “the key of life” or simply life in Egyptian hieroglyphics represents the concept of eternal life. The seated position and the staff convey the healer’s power to cure sickness and disease.
The snake and chalice atop a brick pedestal opposite the healer is the “Bowl of Hygeia” and relates to the pharmacy profession. Hygeia is the Greek goddess of hygiene and good health (an illustration of her is pictured as this coins reverse in the owner comments). In that the Bowl of Hygeia appears within an Islamic Crescent shows that this Greek imagery has been adapted to Islam.
The snake and the staff, though separate on this coin, relate to the Asclepius rod in which a single snake is wrapping itself around the staff. The Asclepius rod today is the universal symbol of medicine.
Though I am not adept at translating Arabic into English and in that there are other symbols on this coin I am not familiar with, I am still able to understand this coin through its imagery. In this way, a picture is worth a thousand words and translates into many languages and cultures.
P.S. I want to thank Rigo at www.collectorsunleashed.com for his help in translating many of the Arabic inscriptions on this coin. Starting with the reverse the inscription near the top rim of the coin reads, “The Republic of Arabic Egypt”. The middle inscription reads, “One Jehney” (1 pound). Along the left rim is the Gregorian date 1980 and on the right rim is the Islamic date 1400.
On the obverse of this coin, the text just underneath the seated healer reads March 18. Along the bottom rim of the coin, the inscription reads, “Day of the Egyptian Doctor.” The other inscriptions and the identification of the object just above the healer are still somewhat of a mystery.