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20 Shilin Soomaali / Somali Shillings
| Issuer | Bankiga Dhexe ee Soomaaliya / Central Bank of Somalia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1981 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 20 Shilin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse carries a large central vignette of a herd of zebu cattle walking along a rural track, framed by dense tree canopy, illustrating Somalia's pastoral economy in detailed intaglio engraving. A blank oval watermark space is positioned at centre-left, flanked by ornate multicolour guilloche rosettes and scroll motifs in pink, blue, and green. The bank title appears in Arabic script at the top left and in English 'CENTRAL BANK OF SOMALIA' at the top centre, with bilingual denomination inscriptions in Somali and Arabic at the corners. |
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| Protection type | Watermark |
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| Comments |
The P#29 series — running across denominations from the early 1980s — was issued during a period when the Somali shilling was under severe pressure from the structural adjustment demands of the IMF and a deteriorating balance of payments tied partly to the 1977–78 Ogaden War's aftermath. Somalia had taken on substantial refugee burden costs following the conflict with Ethiopia, and foreign exchange reserves were critically depleted by the time this note entered circulation.
The single watermark security feature was already considered minimal by early 1980s standards, and the notes were vulnerable to relatively crude counterfeiting. By 1990, with the Barre government collapsing, the central bank itself had effectively ceased to function.