Nigeria

The name of the country coined in the late 19th century by British journalist Flora Shaw. The name was taken from the Niger river which runs through the country, although the origin of Niger is uncertain. The word is likely an alteration of the Tuareg name egerew n-igerewen used by inhabitants along the middle reaches of the river around Timbuktu prior to 19th-century European colonialism.

Archaeological evidence suggests that parts of Nigeria have been occupied since the Palaeolithic or Old Stone Age period (500,000 – 9,000 B.C.).

Nigeria has seen various civilisations, kingdoms, states and empires, as well as a caliphate and British colonial rule from the mid-1800s. The Nigeria Nation-State was founded in 1914 and achieved full independence from Britain in 1960.

Currency

Early proto-currencies in Nigeria included cowries, manilas, beads, and salt amongst others. The first legal tender was from a British colonial ordinance of 1880 for “British West Africa”. The units of coins managed by the Bank of England were one shilling, one penny, 1/2 penny and 1/10 penny. They were distributed by a private bank, the Bank for British West Africa till 1912. From 1912 to 1959, the West African Currency Board (WACB) issued the first set of banknotes and coins in Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone and the Gambia. The highest banknote denomination was one pound, while the one-shilling coin was the highest coin denomination.

From 1959, coins were issued with “Federation of Nigeria”. In 1973, the country changed from pounds, shillings and pence, to decimal. Since 1973, the Nigerian currency has been the Naira, with 1 Naira equal to 100 Kobo. The symbol for Naira is ₦. I can’t find a meaning for Kobo or Naira. Every dictionary simply defines them as currency units of Nigeria. If anyone knows the origin of them, please do let me know!

Obverse

The obverse contains the coat of arms of Nigeria, with date below. The coat of arms of Nigeria consists of a black shield with a wavy white pall, symbolizing the meeting of the Niger and Benue Rivers at Lokoja. The black shield represents Nigeria’s fertile soil, while the two supporting horses or chargers on each side represent dignity.

This bronze coin was first issued with the currency reform (to Decimal) in 1973 and only issued for two years. The next issue of 1 Kobo coins was in 1987-8 when an identical coin was issued. The only change for the new coins was that the text on the ribbon under the shield was changed from “Unity and faith” to “Unity and faith, peace and progress”. The last issue of the coin was in 1991 when the same design was used, but this time in Copper-Plated Steel instead of Bronze.

Reverse

The Reverse of the coin contains the denomination between two oil wells.

Oil

In 1956, Shell-BP (a British-Dutch multinational) made the first commercially viable oil discovery in Oloibiri, present-day Bayelsa State. By 1958, the first barrels of Nigerian crude oil were exported.  In 1971 Nigeria joined the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), signaling its intent to play a key role in global oil markets. In 1975, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources was officially created, separating petroleum from other energy resources. The newly formed Ministry was charged with the regulation of the entire petroleum sector, from exploration to downstream activities. The 1970s and 1980s were a period of rapid expansion and nationalization in Nigeria’s oil industry.  In the 1980s, Nigeria experienced an oil boom, which saw petroleum revenues contribute significantly to national wealth.  By the early 1980s, production peaked at over 2 million barrels per day.

I do like the reverse of this coin, a simple industrial image. What is your favourite industrial scene on a coin?