The coinage of modern Sierra Leone

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Obverse of the 5 cents. coin

The 5 cents coin was made of copper-nickel.

It was first issued in 1980.

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Obverse of the 10 cents. coin

The 10 cents coin was made of copper-nickel.

It was first issued in 1978.

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Obverse of the 20 cents. coin

The 20 cents coin was made of copper-nickel.

It was first issued in 1978.

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Obverse of the 50 cents. coin

The copper-nickel 50 cents coin.

It was first issued in 1972.

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1 leone coin of 1974.

In 1974 a circulating commemorative 1 leone coin was issued.

It marked the tenth anniversary of the Bank of Sierra Leone.


It was not a regular circulation coin, however.

It was made of copper-nickel and had a diameter of 38.6 mm.

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Joseph Saidu Momoh.

Major General Joseph Saidu Momoh was born in 1937.

He was the President of Sierra Leone from November 1985 to April 1992.


He was overthrown in a military coup in April 1992.

The coup was staged by Valentine Strasser, a 25-year-old army captain, .


Momoh spent the last years of his life in exile in Guinea.

He died there in 2003.


See Wikipedia: Joseph Saidu Momoh

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Reverse of the 1 leone coin.

A circulation commemorative 1 leone coin was issued in 1987.

It was the first coin issued under President Momoh


The obverse featured a portrait of the President himself.

The portrait was designed by Robert Elderton of the Royal Mint (UK).


The coin was hexagonal and made of nickel-brass.

It weighed 9.6 grams and had a diameter of 30 mm.

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Obverse of the 1 leone coin.

The reverse of the coin was also designed by Robert Elderton.

It commemorated the bicentenary of Sierra Leone.


The design referenced slavery as an aspect of the country's history.

See: Slavery on coins.

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Obverse of the standard 1 leone coin.

A regular circulation 1 leone coin was issued in 1987 only.

It had the same physical specifications as the commemorative 1 leone of 1987.


It carried the same portrait of the President.

The obverse featured the coat of arms.

See also:  Heraldic, mythical, national and symbolic lions.

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NEW COIN SERIES OF 1996.

The Sierra Leone Civil War (1991–2002) began on 23 March 1991 when the Revolutionary United Front, with support from the special forces of Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia, intervened in Sierra Leone in an attempt to overthrow the Joseph Momoh government. The resulting civil war lasted 11 years, enveloped the country, and left over 50,000 dead.

Inflation became rampant, devaluing older coins. A new coin series was introduced in 1996 for 10, 50 and 100 leones. The coins of the 1996 series were produced by the Royal Dutch Mint. The designs were by English artist Avril Vaughan. This series was unusual in that its obverse and reverse designs were all different.

See: Circulation sets where each obverse and reverse design is different.

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10 leones coin of 1996.

The 10 leones coin featured Mammy Yoko on the reverse and two bonga fish on the obverse.

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50 leones coin of 1996.

The 50 leones coin featured Sir Henry Josiah Lightfoot Boston on the reverse.

It featured the Central Bank building on the obverse.

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100 leones coin of 1996.

The 100 leones coin featured John Naimbanna on the reverse.

It featured cocoa pods on the obverse.

The three coins in this series were all made of nickel-plated steel.

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500 leones, 2004.

A ten-sided bimetallic 500 leones coin was issued in 2004.

It had a stainless steel centre within a brass ring.

It weighed 7.2 grams and had a diameter of 24 mm.

The coin was also issued in 2016.


The reverse featured a portrait of Kai Londo.

He was a Kissi warrior who conquered a large territory.

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500 leones, 2004.


The obverse of the coin depicted the parliament building in Freetown.




The parliament building in Freetown.