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Idoma currency in native iron. Origin Nigeria. Piece over 100 years old delivered on a base.

The African continent is particularly rich in so-called "primitive" coins. Many are made of black iron, a particularly sought-after metal, others are made of copper, more precious than gold, brought by the Portuguese to pay slaves, others in glass beads, human or animal teeth. The list would be long, but each coin is an artistic treasure.

Contrary to certain prejudices, barter was rare in West Africa where three types of currencies had been developed: local, regional and international.

Cowrie shells have historically been used as currency in the country, before the arrival of the colonizers and were in interregional use. Their importance was such that it led to expressions still used: thus the Yoruba of Nigeria and the Fon of Benin designate the 1000 CFA franc notes by a word which means "a bag of cowrie shells". When creating its national currency in 1972, Guinea also chose the term cowrie to designate a subdivision of the syli: a syli was divided into 100 cowrie shells. Cowrie shells gave rise to the creation of deposit banks quite similar to “modern” banks. It was a very reliable currency because it was inimitable.

“Shackles” were used throughout the Grand-Bassam lagoon and that of Lahou. They constituted the only currency of exchange in this region containing very little gold. They were made in England (Birmingham and Liverpool) and in Nantes. It was the lieutenant governor of Côte d'Ivoire who put an end to the circulation of shackles in Côte d'Ivoire by his decree of October 5, 1914. The Gouros, from the center of the country, used an iron currency called “sombé” or “bro”, a currency also prohibited by the decree of October 5, 1914. The Baoulés have long used gold weights and gold powder as monetary units. In certain regions of the country, indigo loincloths were also used as a monetary unit, the value of which increased with the intensity of the blue.

Although prohibited in principle, English currency was current in the eastern regions of the country, bordering Ghana, until the beginning of the 20th century. It was also authorized to use it to pay the poll tax, a tax linked to the existence of the person, therefore independent of their income, and abolished in France by the Revolution of 1789, which had been established in 1901 and which should theoretically be collected in money from 1903. The French public treasury thus collected pounds sterling and shillings which it otherwise prohibited. The French authorities organized several operations to withdraw this currency in the country before formally banning its circulation around 1910.