Catalog
10 Rupees
| Issuer | Government of the East Africa Protectorate |
|---|---|
| Year | 1912-1918 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Black and orange letterpress note with the issuer's title in large bold type across the upper portion, flanked by ornate guilloche rosettes and the numeral 10 in large format on each side. The central text panel carries the promise-to-pay legend in English, Arabic, and Gujarati scripts, with the place and date of issue reading 'Mombasa, 1st July 1912' below. A manuscript signature appears at lower right above the designation 'For the Currency Commissioners,' with a further panel at the foot repeating the issuer's name. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | THE GOVERNMENT OF THE EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE PROMISES TO PAY THE BEARER ON DEMAND THE SUM OF TEN RUPEES عشرة روبية FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE FOR THE CURRENCY COMMISSIONERS Mombasa, 1st July 1912 |
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| Comments |
The Government of the East Africa Protectorate — the administrative precursor to the Colony of Kenya — issued this series as the region's first unified paper currency, replacing a patchwork of Indian rupee notes and private bank instruments that had circulated informally among merchants and colonial administrators. The rupee itself was the natural unit of account given the heavy commercial presence of Indian traders along the coast and inland along the Uganda Railway corridor.
Thomas De La Rue handled the entire print run in London, which meant notes had to travel the full distance to Mombasa before entering use — a logistical wrinkle that became genuinely problematic during the First World War, when German East Africa operations disrupted regional supply and communication networks.