The syli was the currency of

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

between 1971 and 1985. It was subdivided into 100 cauris. The

Sosso The Sosso Empire, also written as Soso or Susu, or alternatively Kaniaga, was kingdom of West Africa that originated as a vassal of the Ghana Empire before breaking away and conquering their former overlords. Inhabited by the Soninke ancestors ...

word ''syli'' means "elephant", while '' cauri'' refers to the shells formerly used as currency. The syli replaced the Guinean franc at a rate of 1 syli = 10 francs. Coins of 50 cauris, 1, 2 and 5 sylis were made of

aluminium Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

. Banknotes of the 1971 series were issued in denominations of 10, 25, 50 and 100 sylis. A second series of banknotes was issued in 1980, this time in different colours and with four additional denominations – 1, 2, 5 and 500 sylis notes. The syli was replaced by the ''franc guinéen'' in 1985 at par.

Banknotes

References

Guinea
at Infotech 2003 Currencies of Africa Modern obsolete currencies 1971 establishments in Guinea 1985 disestablishments in Guinea Economic history of Guinea {{Guinea-stub