25 Shillings Wildlife of Somalia and East Africa

Somalia's 1990s wildlife series was issued during a period when the country had effectively ceased to function as a coherent state — the central government had collapsed in 1991, and no single authority controlled the territory. These coins were almost certainly produced under contract by a foreign mint for commercial sale to collectors rather than for any domestic monetary purpose, a practice common among several African states whose numismatic programs had more to do with hard currency revenue than with circulating coinage.