1 Butut

The Gambia decimalized in 1971, replacing the pound system with the dalasi and butut. The 1 butut sits at the absolute bottom of that decimal structure — a denomination so low in purchasing power by the late 1990s that its practical utility had essentially evaporated, though the Central Bank continued issuing it. The shift to copper plated steel from earlier compositions reflects cost-cutting pressures common across sub-Saharan minting programs during the period of structural adjustment lending that reshaped the region's economies through the 1990s.