20 Cents

Uganda's first decimal coinage, including this issue, was introduced at independence from the East African Currency Board, which had previously handled monetary affairs across Kenya, Uganda, and Tanganyika collectively. The 1966 series marked the country's first domestically designated currency under the new shilling system, severing the last institutional ties to the regional colonial monetary arrangement.

The bronze composition proved problematic in Uganda's equatorial climate, with circulation pieces developing heavy patination unusually quickly.