10 Shillings Snake, Empty leaves

Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 following the collapse of the Siad Barre regime, but has never received formal international recognition. That political limbo hasn't stopped the territory from issuing its own currency — the Somaliland shilling has circulated domestically since 1994, with the Bank of Somaliland producing coinage largely for everyday transactional use rather than collector markets. The snake motif on this series places it within a broader wildlife coinage program the bank began issuing in the 2000s.

KM#68 is the "empty leaves" variety, distinguished from the filled-leaf die by the absence of interior vein detail on the reverse foliage — a minor but catalogued die difference.