Italian Somaliland, Silver Rupee of the Royal Mint Rome

An Italian rupee in Africa. Between the 18th and 20th centuries, the most popular coins in the Horn of Africa were the Maria Theresa thaler and the Indian rupee. After Somalia was colonised by Italy, the colonial administration created a Somalian Rupee on par with the Indian one in 1909. Struck at the Royal Mint at Rome in 1910, the Somalian Rupees carried the bust of King Victor Emmanuel III, engraved by Luigi Giorgi, the Mint’s chief engraver.