The West African Currency Board, established by British colonial authorities in 1912, operated on a strict currency board arrangement — every note and coin in circulation had to be backed one-for-one by sterling reserves held in London. This meant that monetary expansion in British West Africa was entirely contingent on export earnings flowing back through London, a structural constraint that drained liquidity from the colonial economy and became a central grievance in early independence movements across Nigeria, Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, and Gambia.
The nickel brass alloy adopted for this series replaced the earlier cupro-nickel composition as a wartime and postwar materials compromise. The Currency Board itself was wound up in 1964 as successor central banks took over issuance.
The West African Currency Board, established by British colonial authorities in 1912, operated on a strict currency board arrangement — every note and coin in circulation had to be backed one-for-one by sterling reserves held in London. This meant that monetary expansion in British West Africa was entirely contingent on export earnings flowing back through London, a structural constraint that drained liquidity from the colonial economy and became a central grievance in early independence movements across Nigeria, Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, and Gambia.
The nickel brass alloy adopted for this series replaced the earlier cupro-nickel composition as a wartime and postwar materials compromise. The Currency Board itself was wound up in 1964 as successor central banks took over issuance.