Look the note over carefully. Do not put the money away until looking it over. If you see only Arabic on the note, flip it. Egyptian pounds are mostly written in Arabic, but they do have English writing on one side.
Look at the number carefully. Egyptian pounds are broken down into denominations of 5 piastres, 10 piastres, 25 piastres and 50 piastres. It takes 100 piastres to make one Egyptian pound. From the piastres, change goes up by pounds starting at 1-pound, 5-pound, 10-pound, 20-pound, 50-pound and 100-pound notes. A 200-pound note is available, but it is not commonly seen according to Lonely Planet.
Look at the English lettering on the note. The note should state whether it is pounds or piastres. Though small piastres in 5, 10 and 25 are not common, they do exist. Always pay attention to what type of note the currency is before spending anything. The English lettering will state "10 Pounds" for clarity on the Egyptian currency notes.
