Every form of money
this land has used.
From cowrie shells counted by the string, to a colonial pound minted in London, to the naira born on the first day of 1973. Scroll, and time moves with you.
The naira is younger than most people assume. It was born on the first day of 1973 — which means every naira in circulation today is part of a story that is only about fifty years old, sitting on top of centuries of cowries, manillas, a London-issued colonial pound, and a wartime currency swap. Knowing that history does not tell you what the naira will do next. It tells you what money here has already survived, and that is a different kind of useful.
Shells and rings
BEFORE COINAGE
Long before any government minted coins here, people across what is now Nigeria and the West African coast used cowrie shells, manilas, and brass rods as money. The cowrie became the first that worked across the whole sub-region.
Where the record is thin
The 1865 Lagos exchange rate (one bag for one or two English pounds) appears on the Central Bank of Nigeria's own compilation. The academic literature corroborates the cowrie counting system itself, but the exact 1865 figure could not be traced to a primary document.
- Central Bank of Nigeria, 'Before 1959' — accessed 19 Jul 2026
- Marion Johnson, 'The Cowrie Currencies of West Africa', Journal of African History, 1970 — accessed 19 Jul 2026
- G. I. Jones, 'Native and trade currencies in Southern Nigeria', Africa, 1958 — accessed 19 Jul 2026
- Walter I. Ofonagoro, 'From Traditional to British Currency in Southern Nigeria', Journal of Economic History, 1979 — accessed 19 Jul 2026
A colonial ordinance introduces British coin
SHILLINGS AND PENCE
In 1880 a colonial ordinance made British shillings and pence the legal tender of British West Africa. The Bank of England managed the coins, and the private Bank for British West Africa distributed them, until the West African Currency Board took over in 1912. The shilling's reverse carried a palm tree, the emblem that would later mark the Board's own notes.
Where the record is thin
The Central Bank frames 1880 as a single colonial ordinance, while the academic literature describes it more precisely as a series of public notices and administrative actions by Governor Ussher. The substance, British silver becoming the official legal tender in 1880, is well-attested.
- Central Bank of Nigeria, 'History of Nigerian Currency' — accessed 19 Jul 2026
- Walter I. Ofonagoro, Journal of Economic History, 1979 (citing Colonial Office records CO/147/41) — accessed 19 Jul 2026
Two embargoes, not one
FORCING THE NEW COIN
To push people onto British coin, the colonial government banned imports of the old currencies: manillas in 1902, cowries in 1904. Both kept circulating for decades anyway.
Where the record is thin
Some popular summaries fold both bans into a single '1903 embargo'. The sources found give two separate dates, 1902 for manillas and 1904 for cowries, not one combined date.
- Wikipedia, 'Manilla (money)' — accessed 19 Jul 2026
- Walter I. Ofonagoro, Journal of Economic History, 1979 — accessed 19 Jul 2026
- Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford, 'A Brass Manilla from West Africa' — accessed 19 Jul 2026
One pound for four colonies
THE WEST AFRICAN CURRENCY BOARD
From London, the West African Currency Board issued the British West African pound, at par with sterling, for Nigeria, the Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, and the Gambia. It held 100 percent sterling reserves behind every note and coin.
Where the record is thin
The Board was established in 1912 and began operations in 1913, so both dates appear in sources. It was formally dissolved in 1965, not 1959. The year 1959 marks when Nigeria withdrew and the Central Bank of Nigeria took over issuing Nigerian currency.
- Central Bank of Nigeria, 'History of Nigerian Currency' — accessed 19 Jul 2026
- Wikipedia, 'West African Currency Board' — accessed 19 Jul 2026
- Leigh Gardner, African Studies Review, 2022 — accessed 19 Jul 2026
- Wikipedia, 'British West African pound' — accessed 19 Jul 2026
Buying back the old rings
OPERATION MANILLA
In 1948 the colonial government bought back more than 32 million manillas from southeastern Nigeria, swapping them for British West African currency. Manillas stopped being legal tender on 1 April 1949, though people could keep up to 200 for ceremonies.
Where the record is thin
The detailed piece counts and the 284,000 pound cost come from Wikipedia. The likely primary source is the United Africa Company Statistical and Economic Review of September 1949, which Naanen's peer-reviewed article cites, but the exact figures were not verified against that document directly.
- Wikipedia, 'Manilla (money)' — accessed 19 Jul 2026
- Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford — accessed 19 Jul 2026
- Ben Naanen, 'Economy within an Economy: the Manilla Currency', Journal of African History, 1993 — accessed 19 Jul 2026
Nigeria issues its own money
THE CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA
On 1 July 1959 the Central Bank of Nigeria issued its own banknotes for the first time, and the West African Currency Board's notes and coins were withdrawn.
Where the record is thin
Some sources give 1958 for Nigeria's currency, which appears to refer to the Central Bank of Nigeria Act of 1958, the legislation. The actual issuance of notes was 1 July 1959 per the Central Bank.
- Central Bank of Nigeria, 'History of Nigerian Currency' — accessed 19 Jul 2026
- Wikipedia, 'West African Currency Board' — accessed 19 Jul 2026
The notes say 'Federal Republic'
REPUBLIC
On 1 July 1962 the notes were changed to reflect republican status: the inscription at the top went from 'Federation of Nigeria' to 'Federal Republic of Nigeria'.
Where the record is thin
This event is documented on the Central Bank of Nigeria's own history page. No independent academic source was found that specifically describes the 1962 inscription change. Nigeria became a republic on 1 October 1963, so the 1962 currency change preceded formal republican status by over a year.
- Central Bank of Nigeria, 'History of Nigerian Currency' — accessed 19 Jul 2026
New notes, as a war strategy
THE CIVIL WAR
In January 1968, during the civil war, Nigeria reissued its 1965-series banknotes in new designs to stop the secessionist Republic of Biafra spending currency it had seized. Biafra replied by issuing its own money on 29 January 1968.
Where the record is thin
The exact amount of Nigerian currency seized by Biafra is disputed, with estimates ranging from around 30 million to 53 million pounds.
- Central Bank of Nigeria, '1968 currency' — accessed 19 Jul 2026
- Peter Symes, banknote historian — accessed 19 Jul 2026
- Wikipedia, 'Biafran pound' — accessed 19 Jul 2026
The naira and the kobo
DECIMAL CURRENCY
On 1 January 1973 Nigeria became the last country in Africa to drop the pound-shilling-pence system for decimal currency. The naira replaced the pound at one naira to ten shillings (so two naira made a pound), with one hundred kobo to the naira.
Where the record is thin
The Central Bank of Nigeria's own page describes the old system as 'metric', which is a small error on the CBN's part. The old pound-shilling-pence system was duodecimal, not metric.
- Central Bank of Nigeria, '1973 currency' — accessed 19 Jul 2026
- Nigerian Finder, 'History of Nigeria's currency' — accessed 19 Jul 2026
'Naira' and 'kobo'
NAMES
'Naira' is widely reported as a contraction of 'Nigeria', credited to Chief Obafemi Awolowo as federal commissioner for finance. 'Kobo' is usually traced to the English word 'copper', the metal of the small colonial coins.
Where the record is thin
The Central Bank of Nigeria's own pages do not explain the origin of either name. The naira equals Nigeria story rests on a family account reported in a newspaper interview, not on a primary government document. Numismatic references note several versions of the kobo etymology, so it is not definitively settled.
- Nigerian Finder, 'History of Nigeria's currency' — accessed 19 Jul 2026
- Zikoko, citing a 2016 Punch interview with Awolowo-Dosunmu — accessed 19 Jul 2026
- International Bank Note Society, world currency names reference — accessed 19 Jul 2026
A polymer twenty naira
POLYMER
On 28 February 2007 the Central Bank of Nigeria put the twenty naira on polymer for the first time, reissued the fifty, ten, and five naira notes and the one naira and fifty kobo coins in new designs, and added a two naira coin.
Where the record is thin
Only the twenty naira note was polymer at launch. The five, ten, and fifty naira notes were redesigned on paper on that date and converted to polymer in September 2009.
- Central Bank of Nigeria, 'History of Nigerian Currency' — accessed 19 Jul 2026
- Central Bank of Nigeria, 'History of Nigerian Currency' — accessed 19 Jul 2026
- BanknoteNews (Owen Linzmayer) — accessed 19 Jul 2026
A commemorative one hundred naira
CENTENARY
On 19 December 2014 the Central Bank of Nigeria issued a commemorative one hundred naira note marking one hundred years since the 1914 amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates. President Goodluck Jonathan unveiled it on 12 November 2014.
- Central Bank of Nigeria, gallery of the one hundred naira note — accessed 19 Jul 2026
- The Nation newspaper (Nigeria), 12 November 2014 — accessed 19 Jul 2026
Eight notes, five coins, and eNaira
TODAY
Nigeria's money today, as recorded by the Central Bank, is five coin denominations and eight banknote denominations, plus the eNaira digital currency. The kobo coins are largely out of use because they are worth so little.
Where the record is thin
The Central Bank's page lists 1 kobo and 10 kobo as current coin denominations, while practical guides list only 50 kobo, 1 naira, and 2 naira as coins in use. The smaller kobo are technically legal tender but not in practical circulation.
- Central Bank of Nigeria, 'Legal tender' — accessed 19 Jul 2026
- Western Union, Nigeria currency guide — accessed 19 Jul 2026
Why this matters for the naira in your hand.
The naira is younger than most people assume. It was born on the first day of 1973, which means every naira in circulation today is part of a story that is only about fifty years old, sitting on top of centuries of cowries, manillas, a London-issued colonial pound, and a wartime currency swap. Knowing that history does not tell you what the naira will do next. It tells you what money here has already survived, and that is a different kind of useful.
This page is research and education. It is not financial advice, and nothing here is a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold anything. Every figure and date carries its source above, checked on 19 Jul 2026. Where the historical record is thin or disputed, the page says so rather than smoothing it over.