This 20,000 shilling note is a trace of an attempt to revive Somali money: in the late 2000s the Transitional Federal Government restored the dormant Central Bank of Somalia, and in 2010 notes of new high denominations were printed in Sudan. They never entered circulation and never became legal tender.

The front shows the National Theatre in Mogadishu, the back the Central Bank of Somalia building: the bank that never issued this money is itself pictured on it. The same bank building once appeared on the 20 shillings of the 1980s as well.

An unissued note is a chapter of its own in a Somalia collection: it shows what Somali money might have become after 2010 and adds to a set of notes that never reached circulation. UNC condition means the note has never circulated: no folds, no wear, no soiling, even corners — just as it left the press.

More banknotes from this country and this era are waiting in the VPcoins catalogue.