Dear A.E. Gelat,

My forefathers came to Brazil from Austria and former Yugoslavia,
probably from Slovenia.

"A.E. Gelat" wrote in message ...
Luciano, I can only guess it is a coincidence, but then, if you could give
me your national origin (of your parents, grandparents, and further up) I
might be able to help.

The word kirsh is the name of the currency of Turkey. For a long time
Turkey controlled a large part of North Africa, most of the Arabian
Peninsula, and what is now Iraq. There are local pronunciations of the
word, guerche being one of the more common.

Tony


"Luciano Evaristo Guerche" wrote in message
om...
I am not a stamp collector, but really interested in knowing why would
stamps in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia be named after my surname.

--
Luciano Evaristo Guerche
Taboao da Serra, SP, Brazil

"A.E. Gelat" wrote in message
...
Guerrche was the local spoken pronunciation of kirsh, ( compare to kurus
of
Turkey). Europeans called it piastre or piaster. In 1898, the newly
introduced Egyptian currency had 1000 milliemes = 1 Egyptian pound,
equivalent to 1.05 British pounds. Ten milliemes were called a kirsh
(piaster), although no coin had that name. But with the recent slow
devaluation of the Egyptian pound, the millieme became worthless, so the
smaller unit reverted to the kirsh, thus 100 kirsh = 1 pound.

Tony

"TC Blair" wrote in message
m...
"amesh \(Mette\)" wrote in message
...
In yesterday's lot with the Egyptian overprints I have also found
these
four
items from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They all seem different in
design,
size and colour, and all have the mention of "Secours Guerche" or
simply
"Guerche". The word "secours" would indicate aid of some kind, but
"Guerche" ...? They all seem to have a face value that resembles to
our
way
of writing 1/8 (but probably says something different). They are all
used,
and the perforation is exactly what you see -- rather poor and
uneven.
Does
anyone know what they are?

http://shoebox.heindorffhus.dk/SaudA...ursGuerche.jpg


addendum

guerche = saudi money

1918 40 paras = 1 piastre = 1 guerche (about 1d sterling)
1931 110`guerche = 1 sovreign
1951 440 guerche = 1 sovreign
1960 20 piastres = 20 guerche = 1 rial
1976 100 halalas = 1 rial

Blair