250 Shillings Titanic

Somalia issued this piece as part of a wave of commemorative coinage produced in the late 1990s under licensing arrangements with foreign minting agencies — the Somali state itself had effectively collapsed following the 1991 civil war, leaving nominal issuing authority in the hands of a transitional administration with little actual territorial control. These coins were legal tender in name only, produced primarily for the collector market and never intended for circulation.

The timing aligns with the global Titanic frenzy following James Cameron's December 1997 film release, which drove an enormous spike in licensed merchandise and commemorative issues from opportunistic issuers worldwide.