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Bar currency "Ogoja penny" South Nigerian tribes
| Issuer | |
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| Year | |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Forged |
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| Obverse description | Anepigraphic primitive currency bar of hand-forged iron exhibiting a distinctive Y-shaped or trident form: two diverging upper arms tapering to pointed tips, joined at a central V-shaped junction, from which descends a single elongated tapering shank terminating in a blunt point. All surfaces are entirely plain and bear no inscription, device, or decorative element. The object displays a dark reddish-brown patina consistent with aged iron, with surface irregularities and minor pitting characteristic of traditional hand-forging techniques. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
These iron bar currencies circulated among communities in the Ogoja region of what is now Cross River State, the term "penny" being a colonial-era label applied by British administrators and traders attempting to assign familiar denominational logic to objects that did not function that way. Exchange value was determined by negotiation, context, and the specific transaction type — brideprice, tribute, market goods — rather than any fixed rate.
British colonial policy toward indigenous currencies in Southern Nigeria oscillated between tolerance and suppression, with periodic drives to replace bar and manilla currencies with sterling coinage accelerating through the 1940s.