East African shilling explained

Using Countries:All in the 20th century:
Subunit Name 1:cent
Symbol:Sh or /-[1]
Superunit Name 1:pound (£)
Superunit Ratio 1:20
Used Coins:1 ct, 5 cts, 10 cts, 50 cts, 1/-
Used Banknotes:5/-, 10/-, 20/-, 100/-, 200/-, 1000/-, 10,000/-
Issuing Authority:East African Currency Board
Obsolete:yes

The East African shilling was the sterling unit of account in British-controlled areas of East Africa from 1921 until 1969. It was issued by the East African Currency Board. It is also the proposed name for a common currency that the East African Community plans to introduce.

The shilling was divided into 100 cents, and twenty shillings were 1 pound.

History

First East African shilling

Unlike elsewhere in the possessions of the British Empire that used the sterling, in British East Africa the shilling instead of the pound was the primary unit of account, with the pound being a superunit mainly used for recording government and business transactions whose totals would be needlessly large if quoted solely in shillings.

This anomalous state of affairs arose because the first currency used by the British colonial authorities in British East Africa was the rupee, not sterling. The East African shilling was introduced to Kenya, Tanganyika, and Uganda in 1921, replacing the short-lived East African florin at a rate of 2 shillings to 1 florin. The florin had been introduced because of increasing silver prices after World War I. At that time, the Indian rupee was the currency of the British East African states. The rupee, being a silver coin, rose in value against sterling. When it reached the value of two shillings, the authorities decided to replace it with the florin. From the florin thence came the East African shilling. The currency remained pegged to one shilling sterling and was subdivided into 100 cents. In 1936, Zanzibar joined the currency board, and the Zanzibari rupee was replaced at a rate of to 1 Zanzibari rupee. It was replaced by local currencies (Kenyan shilling, Ugandan shilling, and Tanzanian shilling) following the territories' independence.

In 1951, the East African shilling replaced the Indian rupee in the Aden colony and protectorate, which became the South Arabian Federation in 1963. In 1965, the East African Currency Board was breaking up, and the South Arabian dinar replaced the shilling in the South Arabian Federation at a rate of 20 shillings to 1 dinar.

The shilling was also used in parts of what is now Somalia, Ethiopia, and Eritrea when they were under British control. Before 1941, these areas, then known as Italian East Africa, used the Italian East African lira. In 1941, as a result of World War II, Britain regained control and introduced the shilling, at a rate of 1 shilling to 24 Lire. Italian Somaliland was returned to Italy in 1949 as a UN Trusteeship and soon switched to the somalo, which was at par with the shilling. British Somaliland gained independence in 1960, and joined what had been Italian Somaliland to create Somalia. In that year, Somalia began using the Somali shilling (replacing the Somali somalo) at par with the East African shilling.

Ethiopia regained independence in 1941, with British support, and began using the East African shilling. Maria Theresa thalers, Indian rupees, and Egyptian pounds were also legal tender at the beginning of this time, and it is unclear exactly when this status ended. Full sovereignty was restored in late 1944, and the Ethiopian dollar was reintroduced in 1945 at a rate of $1 = 2 shillings. Eritrea was captured from the Italians in 1941, and began using the East African shilling, as well as the Egyptian pound. The lira was demonetised in 1942. When Eritrea formed a federation with Ethiopia in 1952, the dollar, which was already in use in Ethiopia, was also adopted in Eritrea.

Second East African shilling

It has been rumoured that the East African Shilling will be revived by the East African Community, which consists of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Somalia, as part of the community's monetary union. The monetary union's target date has been set to 2031 following delays caused in part due to the Covid-19 Pandemic and the admission of new member states, including the DRC and Somalia.[2]

Coins

Issued during the reign of George V

Issued during the reign of George V
Image Value Catalogue number Technical parameters Description Dates Remarks
Mass Composition Obverse Reverse
http://worldcoingallery.com/countries/coin.php?image=img13/57-221 centKM 22Bronze"GEORGIVS V", "REX ET IND:IMP:", crown, value"EAST AFRICA", value, date1922-1935central hole
5 centsKM 181921-1936
10 centsKM 19
http://worldcoingallery.com/countries/coin.php?image=nmc2/57-2050 cents
KM 203.8879g25% silver"GEORGIVS V", "REX ET IND:IMP:", bust of George VDual value, "EAST AFRICA", lion in front of mountain, date1921-1924
http://worldcoingallery.com/countries/coin.php?image=img/57-21.jpg1 shillingKM 217.7759gValue, "EAST AFRICA", lion in front of mountain, date1921-1925

Issued during the reign of Edward VIII

Issued during the reign of Edward VIII
Image Value Catalogue number Composition Description Dates Remarks
Obverse Reverse
http://worldcoingallery.com/countries/coin.php?image=img/57-235 centsKM 23Bronze"EDWARDVS VIII", "REX ET IND:IMP:", crown, value"EAST AFRICA", value, date1936Central hole
10 centsKM 24

Issued during the reign of George VI

As GEORGIVS VI

Issued during the reign of George VI as GEORGIVS VI
Image Value Catalogue number Technical parameters Description Dates Remarks
Mass Composition Obverse Reverse
1 centKM 29Bronze"GEORGIVS VI", "REX ET IND:IMP:", crown, value"EAST AFRICA", value, date1942central hole
5 centsKM 251936central hole
KM 25.11937-1941central hole, thick flan
http://worldcoingallery.com/countries/coin.php?image=img10/57-25_2KM 25.21941-1943central hole, thin flan
KM 25.31942NO central hole, thin flan
10 centsKM 26.11937-1941some with central hole, some without, thick flan
KM 26.21942-1945central hole, thin flan
50 cents
KM 273.8879g25% silver"GEORGIVS VI", "REX ET INDIÆ IMPERATOR", bust of George VIDual value, "EAST AFRICA", lion in front of mountain, date1937-1944
1 shillingKM 28.17.7759gValue, "EAST AFRICA", lion in front of mountain, date1937-1944edge reeding spaced out
KM 28.21941rare, thicker rim, larger milling, minor design differences
KM 28.31942-1943retouched central image on reverse
KM 28.41944-1946same as KM 28.1 with edge reeding close

As GEORGIVS SEXTVS

Issued during the reign of George VI as GEORGIVS SEXTVS
Image Value Catalogue number Composition Description Dates Remarks
Obverse Reverse
http://worldcoingallery.com/countries/coin.php?=img10/57-321 centKM 32Bronze"GEORGIVS SEXTVS REX", crown, value "EAST AFRICA", value, date1949-1952central hole
http://worldcoingallery.com/countries/coin.php?image=img10/57-335 centsKM 331949-1952
10 centsKM 341949-1952
https://web.archive.org/web/20110926210905/http://www.zanzinet.org/zanzibar/images/003coin_scaled.jpg50 cents
KM 30Cupronickel"GEORGIVS SEXTVS REX", bust of George VIDual value, "EAST AFRICA", lion in front of mountain, date1948-1952
https://web.archive.org/web/20110926210916/http://www.zanzinet.org/zanzibar/images/002coin_scaled.jpg1 shillingKM 31Value, "EAST AFRICA", lion in front of mountain, date1948-1952

Issued during the reign of Elizabeth II

Issued during the reign of Elizabeth II
Image Value Catalogue number Composition Description Dates Remarks
Obverse Reverse
http://worldcoingallery.com/countries/coin.php?image=img/57-351 centKM 35Bronze"QUEEN ELIZABETH THE SECOND", crown, value"EAST AFRICA", value, date1954-1962central hole
http://worldcoingallery.com/countries/coin.php?image=img11/57-375 centsKM 371955-1963
10 centsKM 381956-1964
https://web.archive.org/web/20110926210920/http://www.zanzinet.org/zanzibar/images/EA_50cents_1961_scaled.jpg50 cents
KM 36Cupronickel"QUEEN ELIZABETH THE SECOND", bust of Elizabeth IIDual value, "EAST AFRICA", lion in front of mountain, year of minting1954-1963

Issued after independence

Issued after independence
Image Value Catalogue number Composition Description Dates Remarks
Obverse Reverse
http://worldcoingallery.com/countries/coin.php?image=img10/57-395 centsKM 39Bronze"SENTI TANO", 5, "FIVE CENTS", "EAST AFRICA""EAST AFRICA", "5", date1964central hole
http://www.coinpage.com/coin-image-316.htmlhttp://www.coinpage.com/coin-image-317.html10 centsKM 40"SENTI KUMI", 10, "TEN CENTS", "EAST AFRICA""EAST AFRICA", "10", date1964

Banknotes

See main article: Banknotes of the East African shilling.

In 1921, notes were issued by the East African Currency Board in denominations of 5/-, 10/-, 20/-, 100/-, 200/-, 1,000/- and 10,000/-, with the notes of 20 shillings and above having their denominations expressed also in pounds (£1, £5, £10, £50 and £500). In 1943, 1/- notes were issued, the only occasion that such notes were produced. 1,000/- notes were only issued until 1933, with 10,000/- notes last issued in 1947. The remaining denominations were issued until 1964.

Shilling denominations were written on banknotes in English, Arabic, and Gujarati, while values in pounds were written in English only.

See also

References

The last issued 10,000/- note was dated 1 August 1951 but the high denomination note was used for clearing internally for many years after 1951.

External links

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Notes and References

  1. Web site: 31 December 1936 . "Section 19 — Currency, Banking, Weights & Measures" . live . 7 August 2024 . Kenya Colony and Protectorate Blue Book 1936.
  2. News: Owino . Vincent . 22 November 2023 . "EAC to revise economic targets to attain monetary union dream" . live . 7 June 2024 . The East African.