5 Shillings

The Bank of Biafra was established almost simultaneously with the secession declaration of May 1967, and this 5 Shillings note was among the first instruments issued to assert financial independence from Nigeria. De La Rue turned the job around quickly — the notes were in circulation within months of the republic's proclamation, a logistical achievement given the blockade conditions that would soon tighten around the enclave.

The shilling denominations are a curiosity: Biafra retained the pre-decimal Nigerian unit rather than inventing new nomenclature, which the Nigerian federal pound-based system was already moving away from. The series was short-lived; by 1969 the currency had collapsed in purchasing power, and the republic itself ceased to exist in January 1970.