Catalog
5 Scellini / 5 Somali Shillings
| Issuer | Banca Nazionale Somala |
|---|---|
| Year | 1962 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | An antelope head vignette is set within an oval guilloche at left, printed in red on a white ground with an elaborate multicolour guilloche rosette at centre bearing the large numeral '5' above the denomination 'SCELLINI' in intaglio. The issuing authority 'BANCA NAZIONALE SOMALA' appears at top centre, with the date and place of issue 'MOGADISCIO 1962' at lower centre; two signature lines for 'IL PRESIDENTE' and 'IL PRESIDENTE DEL COLLEGIO DEI REVISORI' are printed below the central vignette. Denomination cartouches with Arabic and Italian text occupy the four corners, framed by a detailed red border. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A traditional lateen-rigged dhow under full sail occupies the central vignette, rendered in red intaglio against a plain ground within a rectangular frame; a large circular watermark zone appears to the left. The Arabic legend 'البنك الوطني الصومالي' is inscribed in a panel at top centre, while the denomination '5 SOMALI SHILLINGS' appears in Roman script at upper right and the corresponding Arabic numeral and text in a cartouche at lower right. Ornate interlaced arabesque panels flank the central scene on both sides. |
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| Comments |
Somalia's first independent central bank issued this note in 1962, two years after the merger of the former Italian Trust Territory and British Somaliland into the Somali Republic. The bilingual denomination — Scellini on the Italian-influenced side, Shillings on the English — reflects that uneasy administrative union, which never fully harmonized its legal and financial systems before the country's later political collapse.
Printed by the Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato in Rome, the note carries the opening Pick number for the entire Banca Nazionale Somala series. As a first-issue type from a newly constituted state, surviving circulated examples are considerably harder to locate than the catalog number suggests.