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100 Shillings / 5 Pounds
| Issuer | West African Currency Board |
|---|---|
| Year | 1919 |
| Type | Non-issued banknote |
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| Obverse description | The central vignette presents a palm tree set against a lightly engraved landscape underprint, flanked by ornate decorative cartouches with mask motifs at each corner. The issuer title 'WEST AFRICAN CURRENCY BOARD' is set in bold letterpress across the upper register, with the place of issue 'Lagos' and the date '1st March, 1919' inscribed in script below the serial number at left. The denomination appears in the lower field rendered both as '£5' at lower left and '100 SHILLINGS' at lower right, with the board members' signatures positioned to the right of the central vignette. |
|---|---|
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| Variants | P#6a - uniface P#6b - Arabic script on back |
| Comments |
The West African Currency Board was established in 1912 to manage a unified currency across British West Africa — Nigeria, Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, and the Gambia — replacing the chaotic mix of foreign coins and trade currencies that had frustrated commerce for decades. This 1919 note enters circulation almost immediately after the First World War, a period when WACB was still refining its supply logistics; notes printed in London had to survive long sea voyages before reaching branch offices in Lagos or Accra, and humidity damage on arrival was a genuine operational concern.
Waterlow & Sons had been printing currency for British colonial territories since the mid-nineteenth century. The dual denomination — 100 Shillings alongside 5 Pounds — reflects the board's deliberate bridging of local shilling-based trade with sterling-denominated accounting.