World coins chat: Nigeria & Biafra

Nigeria is a federation in western Africa at the delta of the Niger River. It is the most populous country in Africa with over 170 million people, making it the 7th most populous in the world.

The Nigerian coast was often visited by European slave traders. However, serious colonisation did not start until the early 1800's. The British established the Lagos Colony, and later South Nigeria and North Nigeria protectorates. All these were later merged into Nigeria, but especially the cultural contrast between south and north Nigeria still plays a role to this day.

Nigeria became independent in 1960, and has since played an active role in pan-Africanism across the continent. It is a founding member of the African Union. In 1967 a civil war broke out when Biafra seceded and declared itself an independent country. The Biafran War ended in 1970 after a long blockade which cost the lives of many and after which Biafra was reunited with Nigeria.

Nigeria's economy has always been heavily reliant on oil production, but the country has not been able to distibrute the oil wealth in a sustainable way. The oil industry is also responsible for a lot of environmental problems in the Niger Delta, something which the powerful oil companies rather keep under the carpet.

In the last decade Nigeria has been the scene of terrorist attacks by Boko Haram. There is an active war going on in which the Nigerian army is assisted by Niger, Chad and Cameroon to stop the violence, but without much success so far.

Despite its problems Nigeria is also growing rapidly economically. It has one of the youngest populations in the world and the infrastructure is improving. Where for instance a few decades ago elite Nigerians would fly to the US for medical treatment, these days there are enough modern doctors to help Nigerians locally, not only elite but also higher middle class.

Nigeria used the British West African Pound from 1907 until 1959, when it introduced the Nigerian Pound at par. In 1973 it was the last sterling country to decimalise by introducing the Naira for 10 Shillings or half a Pound. Because of the oil exports the Naira was a very strong currency in the 1970's, reaching a value of $1.80 in 1980. After this the Naira started declining sharply, reaching 10/$ in 1990 and 110/$ in 2000. The decline was less steep in the following decades and there were plans to introduce a new Naira worth 100 old ones in 2008, but it never happened. Because of the large drop in oil prices in 2014 the Naira declined again to reach 200N/$ in 2015.

Nigerian coins are more difficult to find than one might expect based on the country's population. The first £sd series dates from 1959, with a Naira series issued from 1979. Second and third Naira series were minted from 1991 and 2006 respectively. Due to the low value of the coins they are probably not used a lot.

There are plans to unite the former Brirish West African countries' currencies into a currency named Eco, and potentially have the Western CFA region joining as well, but this keeps on being postponed. With most West African currencies being somewhat unstable, it is unlikely they will ever pull it off, and if they would it would likely be an accident waiting to happen.

Biafran Pound coins exist from the time it was an independent republic. Aluminium 3d to 2.5 Shillings were minted, which are all pretty rare but if you look carefully findable for 15 to 20 EUR. There is also a silver Pound but that one is very rare.

https://en.numista.com/catalogue/nigeria-1.html

https://en.numista.com/catalogue/biafra-1.html

Nigeria has Africa's highest population, with 174 million people, and Africa's largest city, Lagos. In fact, Lagos is growing so fast that even the best estimates of its population differ by multiple millions! The local government of Lagos claims a metro population of 17.5 million, while the federal government of Nigeria says that it's closer to 21 million. Considering that the population of Nigeria is expected to more than double in the next fifty years, these huge numbers seem liable to get even huger.


Perhaps one of the reasons why Nigeria's coins aren't easy to find is that the country's first coins were only issued in 1959. Coins from this 1959 series bear a close resemblance to homeland British predecimal issues, except for the pennies, which bear a close similarity to earlier British West African coins.

Nigeria is ridiculously diverse, with three dominant and roughly equally matched ethnic groups: the mostly Muslim Hausa in the north, the mostly Christian Igbo in the southeast, and the religiously mixed (but slightly more Christian than Muslim) Yoruba in the southwest. These three groups account for 60% of the country's population - not a lot, but not insignificant either. Religiously, Christianity spread inland from the coast, while Islam spread southward across the Sahara Desert - the two religions meet about halfway across Nigeria. This sets the stage for most of the conflicts in Nigeria - the British often favoured the Muslims in the north (before WWII, Islam was actually in vogue among rich British kids) as part of their strategy to keep these three groups fighting each other rather, than fighting the British. Upon independence, it was the Muslims who kept the balance of power.


The Igbo felt very persecuted, considering that they hadn't been well-represented under the British and were still under-represented in modern Nigeria. So Igbo forces pulled off a quick coup, as is wont to happen in unstable African nations, but that coup was undone by yet another coup, restoring the status quo - meanwhile, Igbo living in the north were harassed, evicted, and murdered. The Igbo had had enough, so they left, declaring a mostly-Igbo "Republic of Biafra". Honestly, they have my sympathy - the literate Igbo (the most famous African novel and the first African novel to win the Nobel Prize, Things Fall Apart, was written by an Igbo author) had learned from Europe that ethnic nationalism was a great thing, it's wonderful to be proud of your country, separation and secession can be done peacefully, etc. etc. etc. - so boy, were they ever in for a surprise when most of the developed world started sending support to Nigeria, not Biafra! That's because Nigeria controls a lot of oil, and it always pays off to support corrupt governments that are "friendly to business". The breakdown of which countries supported Nigeria vs. Biafra is a bit weird. Biafra was supported by France, Portugal, South Africa, Czechoslovakia, Spain, Rhodesia, Haiti and others. Nigeria was supported by the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, Saudi Arabia, and other heavyweights.

Biafra was blockaded and about a million died of famine (which was most likely deliberately imposed) before the country was officially re-absorbed into Nigeria. Estimates vary on how many really died, but the end result was disastrous anyway, and Nigeria still has huge ethnic and religious struggles - most notably, the famous radical Islamist group Boko Haram, fighting in the North against evil things like literacy (the word "Boko" is a local corruption of "book", while "haram" means "forbidden" across the Muslim world).

My only Biafran coin was found in a little jar under a stack of books in a local flea market, mixed in with some other West African coins from the 1970s, sold by someone who admitted that he didn't know anything about coins. To this day I still wonder how far that little jar had traveled.


Between independence and Biafra's secession, Nigeria didn't issue a single coin. The first coins from the Republic of Nigeria came out in 1973, and are not easy to find - there are lots of Nigerian people all around the world, so why didn't they bring any coins with them? Perhaps it's because the Nigerian naira is worth very little - less than 1 American cent.


A new series of three coins came out in 2006, including bimetallic 1 and 2 naira coins. But I would bet that all of these are long out of circulation. Today in Nigeria, banknotes are used for everything. Nigeria has made a place for itself in banknote history, because it is the first country into the world to change over to polymer banknotes - and then to change back to paper once more! The company that produced the polymer had a monopoly, so they kept raising the price - considering how many banknotes a highly-populated country like Nigeria must need, that seems like a bad business move, but then who am I to judge the mutually beneficial workings of the free market.




Here is my one Nigerian banknote, a polymer issue from 2013 - perhaps the world's least-valuable polymer note. Enlarge the images and you may notice the denomination written in three unfamiliar languages - Yoruba, Hausa, and Igbo. Today, Nigeria occupies a unique position in the world - one of the world's most bustling, populated, active, and promising countries is cut in three by ethnic conflict. Will this division ever be overcome? Was it just plain rude of the British to create a three-headed country like Nigeria, and then leave without paying the bill? Will Lagos ever overtake Seoul, Shanghai, and Tokyo to become the world's single largest metropolitan area? Only time will tell.

Nigeria's population fenomena is similar to Mexico's in the 70-90s with a lot of manufacturing and assambling factories being outsourced from the US. Then it was India during 90-10s and now as India gets educated and higher wages are demanded many factories are now moving to Africa. Nigeria being the main destination. In 20 years there will surely be jokes about Nigerian call centers as they are for India nowadays.

Nor forgeting their infamous Nigerian Prince that has scammed countless unlucky people; he must be the most hated prince in the World; he owes me 45MDs.  :P

I never heard of Biafra until I started collecting coins. It is surprising to me that I or most people I know don't usually know about Biafra, being a breakaway republic from Nigeria in the late 1960s. An estimated 200,000 to 300,000 people died in that civil war.

I have found a coin from Biafra that I am thinking of buying, but I think it is over priced. I just may get it anyway, since Biafra coins don't come around everyday.

Quote: frncsbrennanI never heard of Biafra until I started collecting coins. It is surprising to me that I or most people I know don't usually know about Biafra, being a breakaway republic from Nigeria in the late 1960s. An estimated 200,000 to 300,000 people died in that civil war.

I have found a coin from Biafra that I am thinking of buying, but I think it is over priced. I just may get it anyway, since Biafra coins don't come around everyday.

Yeah, Biafra coins are pricey; unless you are lucky and find one at a store among a bunch of other unknown coins. I got mine on eBay for £19, of which the Registered mail was what hurt my pocket the most; damn those countries with registered mail costs so high.

Example of a ridiculous shipping cost from one of those nations:



I don't know what they think some countries are like, maybe they need to insure it for warzone with armed courier when sent to Mexico or something like that.

Quote: erdvilla

Quote: frncsbrennanI never heard of Biafra until I started collecting coins. It is surprising to me that I or most people I know don't usually know about Biafra, being a breakaway republic from Nigeria in the late 1960s. An estimated 200,000 to 300,000 people died in that civil war.

I have found a coin from Biafra that I am thinking of buying, but I think it is over priced. I just may get it anyway, since Biafra coins don't come around everyday.

Yeah, Biafra coins are pricey; unless you are lucky and find one at a store among a bunch of other unknown coins. I got mine on eBay for £19, of which the Registered mail was what hurt my pocket the most; damn those countries with registered mail costs so high.

Example of a ridiculous shipping cost from one of those nations:



I don't know what they think some countries are like, maybe they need to insure it for warzone with armed courier when sent to Mexico or something like that.

definitely would pass on that coin

Quote: frncsbrennan

Quote: erdvilla

Quote: frncsbrennanI never heard of Biafra until I started collecting coins. It is surprising to me that I or most people I know don't usually know about Biafra, being a breakaway republic from Nigeria in the late 1960s. An estimated 200,000 to 300,000 people died in that civil war.

I have found a coin from Biafra that I am thinking of buying, but I think it is over priced. I just may get it anyway, since Biafra coins don't come around everyday.

Yeah, Biafra coins are pricey; unless you are lucky and find one at a store among a bunch of other unknown coins. I got mine on eBay for £19, of which the Registered mail was what hurt my pocket the most; damn those countries with registered mail costs so high.

Example of a ridiculous shipping cost from one of those nations:



I don't know what they think some countries are like, maybe they need to insure it for warzone with armed courier when sent to Mexico or something like that.

definitely would pass on that coin

But you can see the current auction has only reached a pretty decent cost (about 55$), but this is because the shipping mostly limits the bidding to the same US. So we on the rest of the World must step aside and just look, otherwise I would throw my $130 bucks (with shipping) to test my luck (not now cuz I am saving, but you understand).

These coins are strangely hard to find, it took me ages to find a 1959 2 shillings !

I am content with just a couple coins, 5 and 10 kobo, both 1976.

A couple of semesters ago I had a student that was from Biafra. He was born during the three years the country existed! I mentioned in class that I collected coins and banknotes and he pulled a banknote from his wallet and said it was from his country. That was the first time I heard of Biafra. I asked if I could buy it from him, but he declined. I understood why when I went home and read all about Biafra. At the end of the semester he gifted me the Biafra 1 pound note. I put it in my album and brought it on the last day of class to show him where it belonged in the album, and that it was going to be taken care of. The note was badly damaged, though but I consider it one of my treasures.

Nigeria's last coins were in 2006 and featured these beauties, the 1 and 2 Naira are pretty nice.

 

  

The coins are worth under a cent now!

Nigeria has had very few coin types since 1959.

 

The large 25 Kobo coins have eluded me so far.

 

I finally got a Biafran 1 Shilling into my collection fairly recently.

 

Aidan.

I'm also missing the large 25 kobo, from the 1959 coins I'm missing the ½ penny with a hole, one of those many holes in my collection... For Biafra a couple of years ago I was very lucky to find 3 coins for very reasonable prices in separate sales, especially the 3 pence is very hard to find (I probably underpaid for it, as well as for the 2.5 shilling). It took a lot of patience and persistence. I have not seen the 6 pence for sale ever as far as I can remember, which is not surprising as according to the one auction that is mentioned on its Numista page, it went for about 2500 euros, which is far far far out of my budget range for a single coin, aluminium even. N#36341

Moneytane

Nigeria's last coins were in 2006 and featured these beauties, the 1 and 2 Naira are pretty nice.

 

  

The coins are worth under a cent now!

I’ve read that due to the ongoing banknote shortage these coins are being reissued in large bags although with a frozen date of 2006.

Edo Timmermans

I'm also missing the large 25 kobo, from the 1959 coins I'm missing the ½ penny with a hole, one of those many holes in my collection... For Biafra a couple of years ago I was very lucky to find 3 coins for very reasonable prices in separate sales, especially the 3 pence is very hard to find (I probably underpaid for it, as well as for the 2.5 shilling). It took a lot of patience and persistence. I have not seen the 6 pence for sale ever as far as I can remember, which is not surprising as according to the one auction that is mentioned on its Numista page, it went for about 2500 euros, which is far far far out of my budget range for a single coin, aluminium even. N#36341

Those are great, I have the Biafra stamps (Most of them) and a £1 note, but none of those coins - lucky.

My only other Nigerian coins are a 3d and 1/- from 1959/1960. I do have a 1958 10/- and 1967 pound.

Also the British West Africa 2/- coins (1916 Silver and 1946 Brass).

Moneytane

Edo Timmermans

I'm also missing the large 25 kobo, from the 1959 coins I'm missing the ½ penny with a hole, one of those many holes in my collection... For Biafra a couple of years ago I was very lucky to find 3 coins for very reasonable prices in separate sales, especially the 3 pence is very hard to find (I probably underpaid for it, as well as for the 2.5 shilling). It took a lot of patience and persistence. I have not seen the 6 pence for sale ever as far as I can remember, which is not surprising as according to the one auction that is mentioned on its Numista page, it went for about 2500 euros, which is far far far out of my budget range for a single coin, aluminium even. N#36341

Those are great, I have the Biafra stamps (Most of them) and a £1 note, but none of those coins - lucky.

My only other Nigerian coins are a 3d and 1/- from 1959/1960. I do have a 1958 10/- and 1967 pound.

Also the British West Africa 2/- coins (1916 Silver and 1946 Brass).

The 10/- and pound must be bank notes, yet that is cool! I just have a small collection of bank notes. I also have 2 British West African 2/- coins (1938 and 1959).

About Brithish West Africa coins it is interesting that there are 1/10, ½ and 1 penny coins with Edward VI (in text) that also mention Nigeria, here is a 1907 1 penny from ‘Nigeria-British West Africa’:

Yes they are!

 

  

Ignore the Samoan note above, but the 1967 pound is below. This would become 2 Naira after 1973

 

  

2 shillings 1946, these were used in Nigeria, Gold Coast, Sierra Leone and Gambia

 

 1959 Threepence of Federation of Nigeria