50 Shillings With Arabic numerals and text

Kenya's first banknote series, launched when the Central Bank opened in 1966, replaced East African Currency Board notes that had circulated across Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania as a shared regional currency. The break was deliberate — Nairobi wanted full monetary control independent of the colonial-era board headquartered in London. Bradbury Wilkinson, then operating out of New Malden, produced the series using intaglio printing, as was standard for their security work.

The Arabic numeral variant of the 50 Shillings is the scarcer of the two types in this denomination. The series was relatively short-lived; by 1969 a redesigned issue had superseded it.