Before the colonization and subsequent creation of the place we now know as Nigeria, inhabitants of the land were known to execute their businesses with the help of ‘currencies’ like cowries, exchange of salt, animals and farm produce and also textiles, in an act known as trade by barter. The west African Currency Board was responsible for issuing currencies (which included banknotes and coins) from the year 1912 to 1959. The currencies in circulation then were pounds, pence and shillings.
In 1959 the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) started issuing the Nigerian currency notes, and in 1962, the legal tender was officially changed again. Following the Nigerian civil war, the currency was again changed in 1968 as a war strategy, and in 1973, the naira and kobo became the official legal tender. We take you down memory lane and presents a brief history of Nigeria’s currency in pictures:
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