1 Pound

Nigeria's first post-independence pound series, of which this is part, was issued as the country navigated the difficult early years of civilian and then military rule following the 1966 coups. The Central Bank had only been established in 1959, and these De La Rue issues represented a conscious effort to move away from the West African Currency Board notes that had served the colonial period.

Print run of just over twelve million is modest for a pound-denominated note in active circulation, and attrition was high — Nigerian currency of this period suffered badly in humid conditions, which accounts for the relative scarcity of presentable survivors. The series was withdrawn following the introduction of the decimal naira and kobo system on 1 January 1973.