Biafran_pound

Biafran pound

Biafran pound

Currency of the former Nigerian secessionist state


The pound (symbol £) was the currency of the breakaway Republic of Biafra between 1968 and 1970.

Quick Facts ISO 4217, Unit ...

Context

The Republic of Biafra existed from 1967 to 1970 as an independent state between Nigeria and Cameroon. The central bank of Biafra was one of the first institutions created. It was then decided to maintain the Nigerian pound. The young Republic relied heavily on foreign exchange for cash, which turned into a risky venture.[1]

On 27 January 1968, Biafran President C. Odumegwu Ojukwu declared:[1]

"Fellow countrymen, I am happy to announce to you that I have today signed a decree introducing Biafran currency notes which will be the legal tender throughout the Republic of Biafra. By that same decree, Nigeria currency notes will cease to be legal tender in Biafra. Our new currency notes, along with our new postage stamps, will be issued to the public on January 29, 1968."

The first notes, in denominations of 5/– and £1, were introduced on January 29, 1968.[2] A series of coins was issued in 1969; 3d, 6d, 1/–, and 2s 6d coins were minted, all struck in aluminium. In February 1969, a second family of notes was issued in denominations of 5/– and 10/–, £1, £5 and £10. Despite not being recognised currency by the rest of the world when issued, the banknotes were afterwards sold as curios (typically at an eighth of their face value, or 2/6 sterling for Biafran £1) in British notaphily shops. The notes are now traded among banknote collectors at well above their original nominal value.

The most commonly found notes are the 1968 and 1969 £1 notes, with the £10 note and all coins being rare.

More information Banknotes of the Biafran pound (1968 "First" issue), Value ...
More information Banknotes of the Biafran pound (1969 "Second" issue), Value ...

See also


References

  1. "Biafra Currency". www.biafraland.com. Retrieved 2023-06-09.
  2. Linzmayer, Owen (2011). "Biafra". The Banknote Book. San Francisco, CA: www.BanknoteNews.com. Retrieved 2011-08-21.



Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Biafran_pound, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.