The florin was the currency

Currency

In economics, currency refers to a generally accepted medium of exchange. These are usually the coins and banknotes of a particular government, which comprise the physical aspects of a nation's money supply...

 of the British

British Empire

The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...

 colonies and protectorates of East Africa

East Africa

East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...

between 1920 and 1921. It was divided into 100 cent

Cent (currency)

In many national currencies, the cent is a monetary unit that equals 1⁄100 of the basic monetary unit. Etymologically, the word cent derives from the Latin word "centum" meaning hundred. Cent also refers to a coin which is worth one cent....

s. It replaced the rupee

East African rupee

The rupee was the currency of Britain's East African colonies and protectorates between 1906 and 1920. It was divided into 100 cents.The rupee replaced the Indian rupee, which had previously circulated. In 1920, the rupee was revalued against sterling to a peg of 1 rupee = 2 shillings...

 at par and was replaced by the shilling

East African shilling

The shilling was the currency issued for use in British controlled areas in East Africa from 1921 until 1969. It was produced by the East African Currency Board...

 at a rate of 2 shillings = 1 florin. The florin was equivalent to 2 shilling

Shilling

The shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...

s sterling

Pound sterling

The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...

.

Coins

Because of its short period in existence, few of the coin

Coin

A coin is a piece of hard material that is standardized in weight, is produced in large quantities in order to facilitate trade, and primarily can be used as a legal tender token for commerce in the designated country, region, or territory....

s minted were actually issued and are consequently scarce today. Coins were minted in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 25 and 50 cents and 1 florin but, according to the "Standard Catalog of World Coins" (C. L. Krause & C. Mishler, Krause Publications), the 50 cents coins were not released for circulation and only 30% of the 1, 5 and 10 cents coins produced were issued for circulation.

Banknotes

The East African Currency Board issued notes in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 and 500 florins, with the 10 florins and above also carrying the denomination in pounds (1, 2, 5, 10 and 50).