Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
100 Rupees
| Issuer | Government of the East Africa Protectorate |
|---|---|
| Year | 1912 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Paper |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | THE GOVERNMENT OF THE EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE PROMISES TO PAY THE BEARER ON DEMAND THE SUM OF ONE HUNDRED RUPEES FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE |
| Reverse description | The reverse displays a mirror-image impression of the obverse design printed on plain white paper, representing the show-through of the typographed obverse text and guilloche framework visible in reverse orientation. No additional design elements or lettering are present on the reverse proper, consistent with the printing practice for this issue. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The East Africa Protectorate's paper currency was a colonial administrative tool as much as a financial one — the rupee denomination tied the territory's monetary system to British India rather than to sterling, reflecting the dominant role of Indian traders and laborers in the regional economy. That Indian-rupee alignment would remain until the East African florin was introduced in 1920, then abandoned almost immediately in favor of the shilling.
At the 100 rupee face value, this was not a note that passed through many hands. Wholesale trade and government accounts were its natural home. De La Rue's involvement guaranteed security printing of a high order, but surviving examples from this series are genuinely rare — the Protectorate itself ceased to exist in 1920 when Kenya Colony was formally constituted.