1000 Shillings Altdorf

This piece belongs to Uganda's mid-1990s commemorative foreign-subject series, in which the Bank of Uganda issued coins depicting Swiss cantons and landmarks — a commercial arrangement targeting European collector markets rather than domestic circulation. Altdorf, the capital of Uri canton, is best known as the site where William Tell allegedly shot an apple from his son's head, a story likely invented in the 15th century and borrowed from Scandinavian folklore. The coins never circulated in Uganda.