Catalog
20 Shillings Western numerals only
| Issuer | Banki Kuu ya Kenya / Central Bank of Kenya |
|---|---|
| Year | 1969-1973 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 20 BANK KUU YA KENYA CENTRAL BANK OF KENYA LEGAL TENDER FOR TWENTY SHILLINGS SHILINGI ISHIRINI TWENTY SHILLINGS THE FIRST PRESIDENT OF KENYA MZEE JOMO KENYATTA FOR THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS (Translation: Central Bank of Kenya Twenty shillings) |
| Reverse description | The central vignette presents a freight train laden with sisal bales passing through an agricultural landscape, with a range of mountains receding into the background; the composition is enclosed within intricate guilloche borders characteristic of Bradbury Wilkinson intaglio printing. The denomination is inscribed at centre in English. |
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| Comments |
Pick 8 is distinguished from the near-identical Pick 7 solely by the removal of Arabic-Swahili numerals from the denomination panel — a minor adjustment made to simplify the note for broader domestic legibility as Kenya moved through its early post-independence monetary administration. Duncan Ndegwa, who signed across the full run, served as the first African Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya, appointed in 1967 after the departure of his British predecessor.
Bradbury Wilkinson's New Malden facility handled much of Anglophone Africa's security printing during this period. Foxing along the margins is a known issue with tropical-circulation examples from this series.