5 Pounds

Nigeria's first post-independence banknote series, including this 5 Pounds, was introduced in 1965 when the Central Bank finally severed the currency's formal tie to the West African Currency Board — an institution that had issued colonial notes backed by sterling reserves held in London. The transition was more than symbolic: it required establishing independent monetary infrastructure almost from scratch.

De La Rue printed the entire series, a relationship that would continue until political disruption forced emergency alternatives. Within four years, the Biafran secession and the resulting civil war made distribution across the country's eastern regions impossible, and large-denomination notes like this 5 Pounds were among the most acutely affected by hoarding and wartime disruption.