Ever since Darbkhana had been shut down during the reign of Sultan Abdul-Hamid II 1301 AH / 1883 AD Egypt minted its coins at other foreign destinations Berlin Germany Birmingham England Budapest Hungary Bombay , India , Pretoria South Africa and Brussels Belgium . The cost of minting and transportation heavily taxed the treasury not to mention the hazards of transportation especially during the first World War 1914/1918 AD and the second World War 1939 – 1945 AD . In 1950 AD King Farouk decided that to cut the cost of minting abroad Egypt should have its own Mint House thus giving a boost to the economy . A large area of land in Easrern Abbassia in Cairo was designated for the building of an Ayubid style Mint House .

Law number 178 for the year 1950 AD was passed allocating an extra credit line for the fiscal year 1950-1951AD stating :

We Farouk I King of Egypt

The House of Senates and the House of Representatives decided and we have ratifies and issued :

Articlw 1 – In the fiscal year 50-51 Section 8 ( The Ministry of Trade and Industry ) Branch ( Legal Metrology Authority ) Heading 3 ( New Projects ) an extra credit line shall be opened to the extent of  34000 L.E for the construction of the Mint House the cost for the project shall be raised from 50000 L.E to 120000 L.E .

Article 2 – The increase in expenses from 50000 L.E to 80000 L.E for the construction of the Mint House mentioned in the budget Section 14 ( Ministry of Public Works ) Branch 3 ( Administration of Official Buildings ) Heading 3 ( New Projects ) for the fiscal year 50-51 is approved .

Article 3 – The Ministries of Public Works Finance and Trade and Industry are to execute this law each in its own concern .

We order that this law be sealed by the State seal and published in the Official Journal and be executed as a State law .Issued at Qubbah Palace in Rabie Al-Awal 1370 AH December 14th . 1950AD

Farouk

Minister of                             Minister of                    Minister of     By the order of His

             Public Works                 Trade and Industry                  Finance             Majesty             

  Othman Muharram          Mahmoud Soliman      Fouad Sarag El Din    Primi Minister   

Mostafa El-Nahas  

This unique and stylish building was finished by the end of 1953 AD that is after the revolution of July 23rd . 1952 AD and after the departure of king Farouk . The first production of the mint House were the aluminum bronze Sphinx coins in denominations of 1 milliemes 5 milliemes and 10 milliemes issued to public on the second anniversary of the revolution on July 23rd 1954AD . The Mint House continuously minted Egyptian coins and took the task of Minting coins for other Arab countries like Syria , Saudi Arabia and Yamen its activity also included the minting of medals decorations seals andinsignia . The Mint House has been in continuous production ever since its establishment up to the present day always improving on its minting machinery whenever needed 

It is noteworthy to mention that the Mint House has a museum that houses a rare an extensive collection of medals decorations seals and insignia alongside of course a collection of ancient and modern coins of which the rarest and most important is the Sultan Fouad Rial ( 20 Piastres ) 

Passing a decree by the Cabinet of Ministers to mint a coin whether for circulation or not for circulation specifying the denomination type of metal fineness diameter weight and mintage

A Public competition for the design of the obverse side is announced in the newspapers sometimes the competition is an internal one within the Mint Authority on rare occasions a designer from the authority is appointed without going through a competition . The competitions are decided by a technical committee from outside the authority that includes officials from inside 

If the coin concerns a specific entity ( National Assembly Ain Shams University The National Theatre ,…. etc) the design is submitted on paper for approval by the concerned entity . Alternatively a three dimensional plaster model is submitted by the competitor in a diameter of 13.7 cm ( formerly was 18.5 cm ) and of height 0.5mm to 1.7mm . The committee then selects the most appropriate model 

 Formerly a cast metal model was made for the plaster one but the casting process produced plenty of faulta Now a semi fluid material called araldite is used after mixing it with desiccating fluid it is poured over the plaster cast and left to dry for 30 to 35 hours after which the artist puts on the final finishing 

A hand painted model of the obverse on paper is submitted for approval then executed on a copper zincograph chiche ( acid etching ) it usually bears the country name denomination and date. The engraving machine then produces a plastic model of the reverse 

 The two models araldite obverse and plastic reverse are lathed each is fixed n a rounded steel frame decorated by either Islamic crenellations or beads or stripes 

 The models each in turn is fixed on the automatic engraving machine the pantograph which takes from 30 to 35 hours and through its arms produces two coin size steel dies one for the obverse the other for the reverse . The dies are in relief and are called the Maaster Dies and after retouching they are heat treated to achieve the required hardness 

Sunken ( negative ) minting dies are made from the relief die – for the obverse and the reverse – in the required quantities by a high pressure hydraulic press ( approximately 300 tons ) and after the final retouching under the microscope the seals are heat treated and ready for use

For gold and silver coins the sunken die is used 100000 times in average while for coins in other metals it is used 60000 times in average then replaced the minting dies are considered for the professional collector as a target and an essential requirement to enrich and distinguish his collection 

 After producing the sunken dies they are lathed to the required size and then numbered

 The preminted  discs undergo a process of sorting out to exclude the defective ones then placed in rinsing and cleaning mixers to be ready for use 

 The sunken obverse and reverse minting dies are fixed in the minting machine with a steel racket bearing the reeding design . The machine is now fed with the ready to use discs 

 After minting the coins were previously sorted manually to exclude the defective ones now this process is automated

 Coins are counted either manually or by weighing them then they are packed in special bags or in cartouches