Kenyan currency: history, description, exchange rate

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Kenya is a country rich in culture, history, beautiful nature and friendly, hospitable people. It is geographically diverse, with snow-capped mountain peaks, vast forests and open plains. The official currency of the country is the Kenyan shilling.

About Kenya

The key geographical attractions of the country are the Great Rift Valley, which has extinct volcanoes and hot springs, as well as the coastline of Kenya with reefs and magnificent beaches. All this, together with a well-developed tourist infrastructure of hotels, lodges, campsites and a variety of activities, makes Kenya a popular tourist destination, attracting millions of travelers every year.

The territory of the country covers about 582,000 square meters. km, it is located on the equator. If you look at the map of Kenya, you can see what borders on five countries:

• Uganda (in the west),
• Sudan (in the northwest),
• Ethiopia (in the north),
• Somalia (in the northeast),
• Tanzania (in the south).

Alongits southeastern edge of the tropical coast of the country washes the Indian Ocean.

Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, is located in the southwest. Other major cities are Mombasa (located on the coast), Nakuru and Eldoret (west-central region) and Kisumu (located to the west on the shores of Lake Victoria).

Early currencies, trade and exchange

Before the advent of modern currency, the communities of Kenya traded and exchanged goods and services with each other or used intermediaries. Various objects have been found at archaeological sites, which indicate the existence of a flourishing trading culture in the past. These items have helped historians and anthropologists map early trading countries and determine the extent of contact between different communities. Barter was one of the main forms of trade during these early periods. Kenya traded agricultural and livestock products. Thanks to trade caravans, the exchange began to be carried out with remote territories: ivory, s alt and iron began to act as a subject of trade.

The use of cowrie shells, textiles, wire and beads as currencies in the hinterland ensured the formation of a key component of money in the early periods. This was a development of the barter trading system, which had already experienced problems with differentiation. Such currencies were the forerunners of formal currencies, they were easy to transfer and share, while their utility (mainly associated with jewelry) ensured widespread adoption. By 1902, the half-cent was introduced.a coin to replace cowries (nsimbi), which was used in Uganda.

Banknotes and coins

The early use of Kenya's money began with the influence of the Arabs, who were among the first to use the currency. In Muscat they used a silver coin called the Maria Theresa Thaler, minted in Austria in 1741. By the 1860s, sailing ships from the United States of America began to visit Zanzibar, resulting in the use of not only coarse cloth (merikani) as a means of payment, but also the United States silver dollar.

Around the same period, the silver rupee minted by the British East India Company (1600-1858) was increasingly used along the coast of the Indian Ocean. These two silver coins were of the same quality but different weights, so the exchange rate was determined by the amount of silver in each.

The Imperial British Company in East Africa (IBEA) received trade concessions in what is today Kenya. Then they began to use rupees, pice and annas as the currency of the region.

However, IBEA went bankrupt, causing the Foreign Office to assume responsibility for the area. Copper paise continued to be minted and used. Indian rupees and some small silver coins were still in use and therefore easily exchanged with equivalent Indian coins of the same denomination (subject to weight and suitability).

After the First World War in December 1919The decision was made to replace the Mombasa Currency Board with the London East Africa Currency Board (EACB). The introduction of new coins for East Africa was supposed. At the same time, it was deemed appropriate to change the currency from rupees and cents to a currency convertible to the pound sterling, thereby cutting the ties with India and indirectly reducing the economic power of the Asian community.

The newly formed EACB introduced an intermediate currency for Kenya and two other countries, based on the English florin, with the idea that it would ease the transition from the rupee to the shilling. The florin was of the same size and shape as the rupee, and of the same quality as the silver. This was a step towards the emergence of the Kenyan shilling. This monetary unit was interchangeable with the pound. Twenty shillings changed to one pound, and in the end, only shillings and cents remained in circulation.

Appearance of own money

As the East African territories became independent after 1962, the EACB stopped issuing banknotes bearing the image of the monarch and removed its name from the coins. The EACB has decided to introduce so-called intermediate currencies for distribution in the region.

Due to the image on the banknotes of Lake Victoria, this intermediate currency was called "Lake". His images were on banknotes in denominations of 5, 10, 20 and 100 shillings. It was printed on all banknotes, and the lake itself was a common territory for the three countries. For the first time, Swahili inscriptions appeared on the Kenyan currency, but Arabic inscriptions were retained.

With the creation of separate central banks forthree East African countries, Kenya began printing and minting its own currency under a mandate given to the Central Bank of Kenya under the Central Bank of Kenya Act. Banknotes of the Central Bank of Kenya were legalized under Act No. 252 of 1966 dated July 1, 1966. The coins were issued in April 1967. The EACB notes ceased to be legal tender in September 1967 and the EACB coins went out of circulation in April 1969.

Kenya's currency notes were originally issued in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 shillings, all with a portrait of Kenya's first president, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, on the obverse and various scenes of economic activity in Kenya on the other side. These notes were the first to use the dual title of Banki Kuu ya Kenya and the Central Bank of Kenya.

On April 10, 1967, new Kenyan currency coins were issued in denominations of 5 cents, 10 cents, 25 cents, 50 cents and 1 shilling. The coins were minted by the Royal Mint and are made of cupro-nickel alloy. Like the banknotes, the obverse depicts a portrait of Kenya's founding father, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta.

Special editions

To mark some national and central banking events, the Central Bank of Kenya is issuing special commemorative money. They are limited in number and are specially printed or minted in honor of an event or person. Thanks to this feature and the use of precious materials such as gold or silver, this moneyare unique and in demand by numismatists.

Modern money

The current currency in Kenya is the Kenyan Shilling (KES), which is divided into 100 cents (c). The coins currently used for trading are available in 50 c and 1 Shs, 5 Shs, 10 Shs, 20 Shs and 40 Shs.

Banknotes are available in 50 Shs, 100 Shs, 200 Shs, 500 Shs and 1000 Shs.

The exchange rate of Kenya against the dollar is 1000 KES=9.866 USD.