CURRENCY BUILDER

Global Barter / Africa & the Middle East / G012

Africa & the Middle East · Mombasa and Kilifi, Kenya · G012

Coastal Voucher

Community-issued vouchers circulating beside the shilling.

Front of Coastal Voucher: 50 Vouchers, inspired by Sarafu community credit vouchers, with actual Noun #56
Front · 150 × 75 mm
Back of Coastal Voucher: the Sarafu community credit vouchers tradition, how a note would work, and the traits of Noun #56
Back · the tradition

Security Edition v2

The same note set like a banknote: full engraved portrait of Noun #56, guilloche, watermark, thread, foil stripe and microtext, all printed art. What's on it

Security Edition front of Coastal Voucher: a line-engraved portrait of the full actual Noun #56 in a guilloche oval beside a watermark window, thread and holographic-look stripe
Security Edition · front
Security Edition back of Coastal Voucher: a color medallion of Noun #56 in a guilloche rosette, with the note's story
Security Edition · back
v2 front SVG ↓ v2 back SVG ↓

The tradition · since 2010

Sarafu community credit vouchers

Since 2010 the Kenyan organisation Grassroots Economics has supported community voucher networks, now called Sarafu; a peer-reviewed dataset logs about 55,000 accounts in 2020–2021.

Source: Sarafu Community Inclusion Currency 2020–2021 (Scientific Data) ↗

How a note would work

Households and community groups earn Vouchers by trading goods or help with neighbours and spend them the same way, on a public, interest-free ledger. They are never bought or cashed out.

Design concept inspired by this tradition, not issued by or for the people who keep it. Not legal tender, not for sale, no cash value, no redemption and no investment rights.

Front SVG ↓ Back SVG ↓ Machine edition
  • PlaceMombasa and Kilifi, Kenya
  • Erasince 2010
  • RegionAfrica & the Middle East
  • UnitVoucher · Vouchers
  • Face value50 Vouchers
  • SerialGB-G012-N0056
  • NounActual Noun #56 ↗
  • Why this NounZebras roam Kenya's plains, and their black-and-white stripes look like a ledger of credits and debits.
  • Headzebra
  • Glasseship rose
  • Bodycomputerblue
  • Accessorytxt doom
  • Seedbg 0 · body 5 · acc 109 · head 233 · glasses 0