Photo of the "old Sudanese pounds"

At the time that I lived in South Sudan (2005-2006), at least five different currencies were in effect in different parts of the region that I worked in (the Rumbek-Yei corridor)...US dollars, Kenyan shillings, Ugandan Shillings, Sudanese Pounds, Sudanese Dinar... Pictured here are the old Sudanese Pounds, which literally disintegrated in your hands as you tried to count them. Their value was so low that an armful of pounds was required to buy one tank of gas. The pounds were typically in bits and taped together in multiple locations. Often you would find half of a 100 pound note and half a 200 pound note taped together. This would be worth the higher denomination. It occurred to me that you could make money off of cutting them apart and taping the different denominations together...

Rumbek, South Sudan

Ref: 2006__0968