Coins ( in its modern sense ) were unknown in pharaonic Egypt before the twenty – sixth dynasty and prices of commodities had therefore to be expressed in another way . Scholars have isolated three units of value that were used to price commodities and succeeded in solving some basic problems connected with prices J Cerny was first to point out different systems of price notation :- The Deben / The Sniw or Shaty / The Hin / The khar / The Hkat