Currency
Historically a variety of objects that have been used across Africa to facilitate trade and measure wealth. Although cowrie shells, aggrey beads, ivory and cloth have served historically as currency, metals have also been used from the earliest times. Some pre-coinage currencies used for goods and services include:
Cowries
Cowries money is one example of odd and curious early primitive money. Cowries shells of many varieties and species were the first universal currency. Igbos exchanged the polished, white and yellow, olive-sized shells imported from the Maldives Islands in the Indian Ocean. The earliest evidence of their use in Africa was found in the pre dynastic tombs of Egypt (c. 4000-3200 BC). These shells were ancient money used not just in Igboland, or in Africa, but throughout the world, predating the use of coins or in some instances used in the same economy as metal coins.
In Igboland they were a sign of wealth and importance and served for small everyday transactions and, gathered together in the millions, for bride wealth (a groom's gift to the family of the bride) and other major purchases and gifts. The shells were believed to possess the power of fertility, thus ensuring their acceptance throughout the wide territories of Africa. Inflation and problems transportation eventually rendered the cowries impractical as thousands of tones of cowries where ship to West Africa.
Manilla
Manillas entered the local economies as a form of currency and were a highly profitable item of trade. They circulated West Africa from the end of the 15th century to 1948. They were originally made of copper or brass and later composed of a mixture of other metals . Copper and brass manillas were heavy open bracelets shaped like house shoes, with bulbous ends. The quality of their ringing sound and the amount of "flash," or excess metal extruded at the joints of the mould, helped determine their value.
The small manillas with flared ends were manufactured in Birmingham, England, for export to Africa. Larger examples, called king, queen or prince manillas, were status symbols and more a store of value than currency. The queen manilla shown here was worth about 75 small ones. During the mid 1500, Portuguese seamen were reported to have paid about 50 manillas for an ounce of gold.
Bracelets
Bracelets, that were cast or hammered from copper had little circulation and were never used in connection with routine transactions. Instead, they served as reservoirs of wealth in a form that was easy to store and transport. This storage function is best illustrated in the very heavy bracelets of the South-Eastern Nigeria region.
To create some of these bracelets, the artists poured molten metal directly into a cast in the ground called a puddle mold. As the metal cooled, it was wrapped into a circular shape and often even fitted directly to the wearer's body. Representing stored family wealth; these ornaments were usually large and heavy and were worn by people of high status throughout Igboland. Aside from their intrinsic value, they were also valued for their artistry.