5 Quroush, 1956, Jumhuriyyat al-Sudan
-Camel Postman 5 piaster coin, Republic of Sudan
The Sudanese pound was pegged to the US dollar until 1978 at $2.87, with minor devaluations in the following few years, so in 1984 when I had change made and was given this 5 piaster coin, it was worth about a dime. A friend my age used to buy his school lunch with it. In 2020 few young people have even heard of a piaster except as a word in their grandfathers’ proverbs. Today one pound is worth two cents and the 5 piaster coin is offered on ebay for $6.00.
The camel postman engraved on the obverse side meant something special to me because I had been corresponding with Hajj Bashir in El Obeid, which on the map looks to be in the middle of the desert although it is not. I thought, So this is who delivered my letters to him.
Now the Sudanese postal service is a wreck after thirty years of political ruination. Khartoum’s colonial era Central Post Office is gutted and being renovated, perhaps as luxury condos, something else Trump would do. Pony Express, Camel Postmen? We fondly remember them both.