The Sierra Leonean leone
Currency · SLE · 1 country
On 1 July 2022 the Bank of Sierra Leone took three zeros off the leone: one new leone, code SLE, replaced 1,000 old ones, code SLL, without changing what the money was worth. The leone itself dates from 4 August 1964, when it replaced the British West African pound at two leones to the pound.
No sign of its own
The leone has no symbol of its own. Amounts are written with the abbreviation Le before the figure, as in Le10,000 on the notes of 2010. Since the redenomination of July 2022 the code distinguishes the two currencies: SLL for the old leone, SLE for the new.
- ISO code
- SLE
- ISO number
- 925
- Subunit
- cent, 1/100
An amount, written out
SLE 1,234.50
- SLE 1,234.50English
- Le 1,234.50EnglishSierra Leone
Where the Sierra Leonean leone is the official currency
Within Sierra Leone the Bank of Sierra Leone issues it. The leone held its value against the US dollar until the 1980s, then lost it to economic collapse and civil war.
About the Sierra Leonean leone
What the first leone replaced
Before 1964 Sierra Leone used the British West African pound. The Bank of Sierra Leone brought in a decimal currency that year. It had planned to call the unit a shilling, then settled on leone, worth ten shillings, half a pound sterling or US$1.40 at the start. The first notes were of 1, 2 and 5 leones.
The leone held its value against the US dollar until the 1980s. Then it fell fast. Economic collapse and the civil war that followed drove inflation, new coins of 10, 50 and 100 leones arrived in 1996, and by the 2000s a dollar cost thousands of leones. Before June 2010 most cash payments were made in bundles of 5,000 leone notes.
Why three zeros came off
The Bank of Sierra Leone announced the new leone on 11 August 2021, under section 30 of the Bank of Sierra Leone Act 2019. Its stated aim was to cut the number of notes a payment needed. Carrying and counting stacks of old notes was costly and risky, the bulk made cash machines harder to run, and the bank also pointed to heavy hoarding of currency between June 2020 and August 2021.
Financial transactions were suspended from the Wednesday before the Friday launch. A student told Reuters the change was a psychological boost. The All People's Congress, then the main opposition party, called it confusing and said it added no value.
How the old and new leone overlapped
The bank first set a transition from 1 July to 30 September 2022 during which both leones were legal tender. A notice of 15 September 2022 extended it to 31 March 2023 and said the old leone would cease to be legal tender on 1 April. Later accounts give 1 January 2024 as the end of the old leone's legal tender and 1 April 2024 as the last day to redeem it at commercial banks.
What the new notes and coins look like
The new notes of 1, 2, 5 and 10 leones kept the designs of the 1,000 to 10,000 leone notes of 2010, and the 20 leone note got a new one. The bank chose to drop exactly three zeros and keep the familiar designs because of the high level of illiteracy. De La Rue printed the notes in the United Kingdom.
Coins of 1, 5, 10, 25 and 50 cents came out the same day, each with a musician and an instrument: a djembe on the 5 cents, a guitar on the 10, a kalimba on the 25, an accordion on the 50. They bought so little that they soon vanished, and since at least 2023 they have been all but unused.
From 1974 to 1991 the notes showed whoever was head of state when they were printed: Milton Margai, then Siaka Stevens, then Joseph Saidu Momoh. The practice stopped when the NPRC military government took power, and civilian governments since have not revived it.
Common questions
Questions about the Sierra Leonean leone
What is the difference between SLL and SLE?
SLL is the old leone and SLE the new one introduced on 1 July 2022, at 1,000 old leones to one new. A 10,000 leone note became a 10 leone note of the same design. Old leones stopped being legal tender once the transition ran out, and after that could be changed only for a limited period.
Why did Sierra Leone redenominate the leone?
The Bank of Sierra Leone said people were carrying and counting so many notes that cash had become costly and risky to handle, and that the bulk made cash machines harder to run. It also cited heavy hoarding of currency between June 2020 and August 2021. Removing three zeros cut the number of notes a payment needs. Keeping the old designs on the new 1 to 10 leone notes was a choice made because of the high level of illiteracy in the country, and the opposition All People's Congress called the whole exercise confusing.
Are Sierra Leonean coins still used?
Barely. The new leone came with coins of 1, 5, 10, 25 and 50 cents on 1 July 2022, showing musicians with a djembe, a guitar, a kalimba and an accordion. They were worth so little that they soon left circulation, and since at least 2023 almost nobody pays with them.
When did the leone replace the British West African pound?
On 4 August 1964, at two leones to one pound, so a leone was worth ten shillings. The Bank of Sierra Leone had first planned to call the new unit a shilling. The first notes, of 1, 2 and 5 leones, showed the Cotton Tree and the court building in Freetown, with diamond mining, a village market and the Freetown docks on the backs.