East African shilling

East African shilling
Central bank	East African Currency Board
User(s)	All in the 1900s: Kenya Colony ('21-'69) Tanganyika ('21-'64) Uganda (commonwealth realm) ('21-'69) Zanzibar ('36-'64) British Somaliland ('41-'62) Eritrea ('41-'52) Ethiopia ('41-'45) Italian Somaliland ('41-'50) Aden Protectorate ('51-'63) Colony of Aden ('51-'63) Federation of Arab Emirates of the South ('59-'63) Federation of South Arabia ('63-'65) Protectorate of South Arabia ('63-'65) Tanzania ('64-'69)
Superunit
20	pound
Subunit
1/100	cent
Coins	1, 5, 10, 50 cents,1 shilling
Banknotes	5, 10, 20, 100 shillings

The East African shilling was the currency issued for use in British controlled areas in East Africa from 1921 until 1969. It was produced 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 old East African Shilling (left), East African Shilling (right)

History

First East African shilling

The pound sterling was originally divided into twenty shillings, and it is normal to consider the shilling sterling to be a subsidiary unit of the pound. However, in British East Africa, even though twenty shillings were equal in value to one pound sterling, the shilling was always taken to be the primary unit of account. This state of affairs was unique amongst all the parts of the British Empire that used the sterling currency.

This anomalous state of affairs arose because British East Africa was actually originally in the rupee zone and not in the sterling zone. The East African shilling was introduced to Kenya, Tanganyika (now mainland Tanzania), and Uganda in 1921, replacing the short-lived florin at a rate of 2 shillings = 1 florin. The short lived Florin had been brought about as a result of the rising price of silver which occurred in the wake of 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 1.5 East African shillings = 1 Zanzibari rupee. It was replaced by local currencies (Kenyan shilling, Ugandan shilling and Tanzanian shilingi) 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 were using 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 lira. Italian Somaliland was returned to Italy in 1949 as a UN Trusteeship and soon switched to the Italian Somaliland 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. The East African shilling ceased to be legal tender in Somalia during 1961. Ethiopia regained independence in 1941, with British support and began using the East African shilling. Maria Theresa Thalers, Indian rupees, and Egyptian pound 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 birr was reintroduced in 1945 at a rate of 1 birr = 2 shillings. Eritrea was captured from the Italians in 1941, and began using the East African shilling, as well as the Egyptian pound, with the lira demonetized in 1942. When Eritrea formed a federation with Ethiopia in 1952, the birr, which was already in use in Ethiopia, was adopted in Eritrea.

For a wider history surrounding currency in the region, see The History of British Currency in the Middle East.

Second East African shilling

A new version of the currency is proposed by the East African Community, which consists of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and South Sudan.

Previously, it was estimated that the Second East African shilling would be introduced into circulation in 2012 but the studies that are currently guiding the process propose 2015.

Coins

Issued during the reign of George V

Issued during the reign of George V
Image	Value	Catalog number	Technical parameters		Description		Dates	Remarks
			Mass	Composition	Obverse	Reverse
[1]	1 cent	KM 22		Bronze	"GEORGIVS V", "REX ET IND:IMP:", crown, value	"EAST AFRICA", value, date	1922-1935	central hole
	5 cents	KM 18					1921-1936
	10 cents	KM 19
[2]	50 cents ½ shilling	KM 20	3.8879g	25% silver	"GEORGIVS V", "REX ET IND:IMP:", bust of George V	Dual value, "EAST AFRICA", lion in front of mountain, date	1921-1924
[3]	1 shilling	KM 21	7.7759g			Value, "EAST AFRICA", lion in front of mountain, date	1921-1925
For table standards, see the coin specification table.

Issued during the reign of Edward VIII

Issued during the reign of Edward VIII
Image	Value	Catalog number	Composition	Description		Dates	Remarks
				Obverse	Reverse
[4]	5 cents	KM 23	Bronze	"EDWARDVS VIII", "REX ET IND:IMP:", crown, value	"EAST AFRICA", value, date	1936	Central hole
	10 cents	KM 24
For table standards, see the coin specification table.

Issued during the reign of George VI

As GEORGIVS VI

Issued during the reign of George VI as GEORGIVS VI
Image	Value	Catalog number	Technical parameters		Description		Dates	Remarks
			Mass	Composition	Obverse	Reverse
	1 cent	KM 29		Bronze	"GEORGIVS VI", "REX ET IND:IMP:", crown, value	"EAST AFRICA", value, date	1942	central hole
	5 cents	KM 25					1936	central hole
		KM 25.1					1937-1941	central hole, thick flan
[5]		KM 25.2					1941-1943	central hole, thin flan
		KM 25.3					1942	NO central hole, thin flan
	10 cents	KM 26.1					1937-1941	some with central hole, some without, thick flan
		KM 26.2					1942-1945	central hole, thin flan
	50 cents ½ shilling	KM 27	3.8879g	25‰ silver	"GEORGIVS VI", "REX ET INDIÆ IMPERATOR", bust of George VI	Dual value, "EAST AFRICA", lion in front of mountain, date	1937-1944
	1 shilling	KM 28.1	7.7759g			Value, "EAST AFRICA", lion in front of mountain, date	1937-1944	edge reeding spaced out
		KM 28.2					1941	rare, thicker rim, larger milling, minor design differences
		KM 28.3					1942-1943	retouched central image on reverse
		KM 28.4					1944-1946	same as KM 28.1 with edge reeding close
For table standards, see the coin specification table.

As GEORGIVS SEXTVS

Issued during the reign of George VI as GEORGIVS SEXTVS
Image	Value	Catalog number	Composition	Description		Dates	Remarks
				Obverse	Reverse
[6]	1 cent	KM 32	Bronze	"GEORGIVS SEXTVS REX", crown, value	"EAST AFRICA", value, date	1949-1952	central hole
[7]	5 cents	KM 33				1949-1952
	10 cents	KM 34				1949-1952
[8]	50 cents ½ shilling	KM 30	Cupronickel	"GEORGIVS SEXTVS REX", bust of George VI	Dual value, "EAST AFRICA", lion in front of mountain, date	1948-1952
[9]	1 shilling	KM 31			Value, "EAST AFRICA", lion in front of mountain, date	1948-1952
For table standards, see the coin specification table.

Issued during the reign of Elizabeth II

Issued during the reign of Elizabeth II
Image	Value	Catalog number	Composition	Description		Dates	Remarks
				Obverse	Reverse
[10]	1 cent	KM 35	Bronze	"QUEEN ELIZABETH THE SECOND", crown, value	"EAST AFRICA", value, date	1954-1962	central hole
[11]	5 cents	KM 37				1955-1963
	10 cents	KM 38				1956-1964
[12]	50 cents ½ shilling	KM 36	Cupronickel	"QUEEN ELIZABETH THE SECOND", bust of Elizabeth II	Dual value, "EAST AFRICA", lion in front of mountain, year of minting	1954-1963
For table standards, see the coin specification table.

Issued after independence

Issued after independence
Image	Value	Catalog number	Composition	Description		Dates	Remarks
				Obverse	Reverse
[13]	5 cents	KM 39	Bronze	"SENTI TANO", 5, "FIVE CENTS", "EAST AFRICA"	"EAST AFRICA", "5", date	1964	central hole
[14][15]	10 cents	KM 40		"SENTI KUNI", 10, "TEN CENTS", "EAST AFRICA"	"EAST AFRICA", "10", date	1964
For table standards, see the coin specification table.

Banknotes

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 shillings, with the notes of 20 shillings and above also carrying the denominations given in pounds Sterling (£1, £5, £10, £50 and £500). In 1943, 1 shilling notes were issued, the only occasion that such notes were produced. 1,000 shilling notes were only issued until 1933, with 10,000 shillings notes last issued in 1947. The remaining denominations were issued until 1964.

Gallery

• 

  1925 East African 1 Shilling coin obverse

• 

  1925 East African 1 Shilling coin reverse

• 

  1935 East African 5 cent coin obverse

• 

  1935 East African 5 cent coin reverse

• 

  1930 East African 1 cent coin obverse

• 

  1930 East African 1 cent coin reverse

• 

  British East Africa 1 cent and 10 cent coins

References

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

External links

• East African Community
• Images of East African banknotes

Preceded by: Indian rupee, Maria Theresa Thaler and other foreign currencies Ratio: 1 shilling = 1 British shilling	Currency of Colony of Aden 1951 – 1963		Currency of Federation of South Arabia 1963 – 1965	Succeeded by: South Yemeni dinar Ratio: 1 dinar = 20 shillings = 1 British pound
	Currency of Aden Protectorate 1951 – 1959	Currency of Federation of Arab Emirates of the South 1959 – 1963
		Currency of remainder of Aden Protectorate 1959 – 1963 Note: throughout this time period, various states within the protectorate joined the federation	Currency of Protectorate of South Arabia 1963 – 1965
Preceded by: Zanzibari rupee Ratio: 1.5 East African shillings = 1 Zanzibari rupee = 1 Indian rupee = 1.5 British shilling	Currency of Zanzibar January 1, 1936 – 1964		Currency of Tanzania (formerly Tanganyika and Zanzibar) 1964 – 1969	Succeeded by: Tanzanian shilingi Reason: currency independence Ratio: at par Note: independent shilling introduced in 1966, but EA shilling not demonetized until 1969
Preceded by: East African florin Ratio: 2 shillings = 1 florin = 2 British shilling	Currency of East Africa (Kenya, Tanganyika, Uganda) 1921 – various dates of independence
			Currency of Kenya 1963 – 1969	Succeeded by: Kenyan shilling Reason: currency independence Ratio: at par Note: independent shilling introduced in 1966, but EA shilling not demonetized until 1969
			Currency of Uganda 1962 – 1969	Succeeded by: First Ugandan shilling Reason: currency independence Ratio: at par Note: independent shilling introduced in 1966, but EA shilling not demonetized until 1969
Preceded by: Italian East African lira Reason: United Kingdom recaptured British Somaliland from Italy, and also occupied Italian East Africa Ratio: 1 shilling = 24 lira = 1 British shilling	Currency of British Somaliland 1941 – 1962			Succeeded by: Somali shilling Reason: independence as part of Somalia Ratio: at par
	Currency of Italian Somaliland 1941 – 1950			Succeeded by: Italian Somaliland somalo Reason: return to Italy (in 1949) Ratio: at par
	Currency of Ethiopia 1941 – 1945			Succeeded by: Ethiopian birr Reason: (Ethiopia) independence (Eritrea) federation with Ethiopia Ratio: 1 birr = 2 shillings
	Currency of Eritrea 1941 – 1952