Kenyan shilling
20 shilling (1994), portrait of Daniel arap Moi 10 shilling coin
ISO 4217 Code	KES
User(s)	Kenya
Inflation	9.3%
Source	The World Factbook, 2007 est.
Subunit
1/100	cent
Symbol	KSh
Coins
Freq. used	50 cents, 1, 5, 10, 20, 40 shillings
Rarely used	5, 10 cents
Banknotes
Freq. used	50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000 shillings
Rarely used	10, 20 shillings
Central bank	Central Bank of Kenya
Website	www.centralbank.go.ke

The shilling is the currency of Kenya. Its ISO 4217 code is KES. The symbol KSh is also often used. The Kenyan shilling replaced the East African shilling in 1966 at par.

As the Kenyan shilling is the most stable and strongest currency in east Africa, it is used outside the country mostly in unstable places like Somalia and southern Sudan and is favoured over the local currency.

Coins

The first coins were issued in 1966 in denominations of 5, 10, 25 and 50 cents, 1 and 2 shillings. 25 cents coins were not minted after 1969, with 2 shillings coins last minted in 1971. In 1985, 5 shillings coins were introduced, followed by 10 shillings in 1994 and 20 shillings in 1998.

Between 1966 and 1978, the portrait of the first president of Kenya, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, appeared on the obverse of all Kenya's coins. In 1980, this was replaced by a portrait of Daniel arap Moi until 2005, when a new coin series was introduced with the portrait of Kenyatta restored. The coins are 50 cents and 1 shilling in stainless steel and bi-metallic coins of 5, 10 and 20 shillings. A bi-metallic 40 shilling coin with the portrait of President Kibaki was issued in 2003 to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of independence (1963-2003).

Banknotes

In 1966, the Central Bank of Kenya issued notes in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 shillings. 5 shillings notes were replaced by coins in 1985, with the same happening to 10 and 20 shillings in 1994 and 1998. In 1986, 200 shillings notes were introduced, followed by 500 shillings in 1988 and 1000 shillings in 1994.

As with the coins, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta appeared on the banknotes issued until 1978, with Daniel arap Moi's portrait replacing him in 1980. In 2003, after Mwai Kibaki replaced Moi as president, 5, 10, and 20 shilling notes from the 1978 series with Kenyatta's picture that had been in storage were issued, and circulated for a time. A new series of notes was then introduced on which Kenyatta reappeared with denominations of 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000 shilling. The issue of 12 December 2003 commemorates the "40 years of Independence 1963-2003". The banknotes are printed in Nairobi by De La Rue.

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See also

• Economy of Kenya

External links

• Don's World Coin Gallery - Kenya
• Ron Wise's World Paper Money - Kenya ^{Mirror site}
• Tables of Modern Monetary Systems by Kurt Schuler - Kenya ^{Mirror site}
• The Global History of Currencies - Kenya
• Global Financial Data currency histories table ( Microsoft Excel format)

• Old currency and new generation currency
• Kenyan coins

Preceded by: East African shilling Reason: currency independence Ratio: at par Note: independent shilling introduced in 1966, but EA shilling not demonetized until 1969

Currency of Kenya 1966 –

Succeeded by: Current

Currencies of Africa
North	Algerian dinar · Euro (Plazas de soberanía) · Egyptian pound · Libyan dinar · Mauritanian ouguiya · Moroccan dirham · Sudanese pound · Tunisian dinar
Central	Angolan kwanza · Burundian franc · Central African CFA franc (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon) · Congolese franc · Rwandan franc
West	Cape Verdean escudo · Euro (Canary Islands, Madeira) · Gambian dalasi · Ghanaian cedi · Guinean franc · Liberian dollar · Nigerian naira · São Tomé and Príncipe dobra · Sierra Leonean leone · West African CFA franc (Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo)
East	Comorian franc · Djiboutian franc · Eritrean nakfa · Ethiopian birr · Kenyan shilling · Seychellois rupee · Somali shilling · Somaliland shilling (unrecognized) · Tanzanian shilling · Ugandan shilling
South	Botswana pula · Euro (Mayotte, Réunion) · Lesotho loti · Malawian kwacha · Malagasy ariary · Mauritian rupee · Mozambican metical · Namibian dollar · Saint Helena pound · South African rand · Swazi lilangeni · Zambian kwacha · Zimbabwean dollar

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Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia; from the article "Kenyan shilling". Image Credit.

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