Kenya's coinage since independence

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In 1994, the 10 cents was changed to brass-plated steel, while 50 cents and and 1 and 5 shillings were changed to nickel-plated steel, but otherwise they did not change. They retained the same large coat of arms.

Also in 1994, a new circulating denomination of 10 shillings was added. It had a copper-nickel centre in an aluminium-bronze ring. It weighed 5 grams and was 23 mm in diameter. The coat of arms was much smaller on this coin, and the denominational numerals consequently took up more space.

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In 1995 the 5 shillings was also made bimetallic and minted until 1997. It weighed 3.75 grams and was 20 mm in diameter.

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In 1995 only, the 10 cents appeared in copper-plated steel, with the standard portrait of Arap Moi and the smaller coat of arms,

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From 1995 to 1997, the 50 cents was also issued with the smaller coat of arms.

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From 1995 to 1997, the 1 shilling coin was also issued in brass-plated steel and with the smaller coat of arms.

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The new 10 cents, 50 cents and 1 shilling coins introduced in 1995 were considerably smaller than the previous versions.

In 1998, a new denomination of 20 shillings was issued. It was bimetallic. After 1998, no more coins were issued with the portrait of Arap Moi.

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No further circulation types were issued until 2005. In that year, the portrait of the late President Kenyatta made a return to the reverse of the coinage. I consider the side with the country name to be the obverse. The 5 and 10 cents coins were minted in copper-plated steel for 2005 only. They are quite scarce and I have no images of them.

The next highest denomination of the new series was the 50 cents coin. The "50" is now larger, and you can see that the spear tips on the coat of arms are consequently closer to these numerals.

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Here you see the obverse of the 1 shilling coin of 2005.

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The bimetallic 5 shillings of 2005.

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The 10 shillings coin of 2005 was also bimetallic.

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The bimetallic 20 shillings coin was minted from 2005 to 2010. Compared to the 10 shillings coin, the coat of arms is significantly smaller and the numerals of the denomination significantly larger.

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In 2010, Kenya issued a new 10 shillings coin. This time, the coin had a nickel-plated steel center within a brass-plated steel ring. The previous version (2005 to 2009) had a copper-nickel center within an aluminium-bronze ring.

Notice also that the coat of arms is smaller and the numerals of the denomination are subsequently larger. This brought the style of the coin into line with the 20 shillings coin.

After 2010, no more circulation coins were produced with the portrait of President Kenyatta.

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Meanwhile, the subject of presidential portraits on coins had become controversial in Kenya. In 2003 a set of collector coins had been issued to commemorate 40 years of Kenya's independence. These coins - 40 shillings, 1000 shillings and 5000 shillings - portrayed President Kibaki on the reverse. When Mwai Kibaki had become president of Kenya in 2002, he promised that he would not allow himself to be portrayed on the coinage. Even though these were collector coins only, Kibaki had now broken that promise.

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Mwai Kibaki (born 1931) became the third President of Kenya in December 2002. Kibaki was previously Vice-President of Kenya for ten years from 1978 to 1988 and also held cabinet ministerial positions. He left office in April 2013.

See Wikipedia: Mwai Kibaki




Kenya, 40 shillings, 2003.

 

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The new Kenyan constitution prohibited the use of a person’s portrait on currencies. However, after a series of legal challenges, it took until 2018 before Kenya issued suitable new series of coins and banknotes.

See: Kenya: New Series of Coins and Banknotes 2018.

In keeping with the coins of many other Sub-Saharan countries, Kenya adopted a series of designs depicting the national wildlife. All the species portrayed have however been depicted on the circulation coins of other countries. It is a pity that some other species, such as the serval or hyena, were not used. However, Kenya now has an attractive thematic set at long last. It makes a nice change from seeing the same portrait (changing over time) and the same coat of arms on each previous series.