100 Shillings Rooster, nickel plated steel

Uganda decimalized in 1966, replacing the East African shilling at par, but the currency spent the following decades battered by the economic collapse and hyperinflation that accompanied the Amin dictatorship and its aftermath. By the 1980s, the shilling had been so thoroughly destroyed in value that 100 shillings was effectively worthless. A redenomination in 1987 introduced the new shilling at 100 old shillings, partially resetting the damage. This coin, struck nearly two decades after that reform, reflects how far purchasing power had continued to erode — 100 shillings by 2004 bought almost nothing in daily commerce.