Continuity in West African Monetary History? An Outline of Monetary Development

Imported rather than indigenous moneys dominate the monetary history of West Africa, and represent a strong though not always recognized element of continuity. The role of imported currencies in that region's economic development is readily apparent from the works of Philip D. Curtin, A. G. Hopkins, Marion Johnson, Paul Lovejoy, Walter Ofonagoro, and other historians who have painstakingly reconstructed the monetary patterns of societies with few statistical records.1 Many questions on money imports during the pre-colonial and colonial periods have, however, remained unanswered by the historical work. In particular, the theorizing on money and monetary history in the developed countries has been little applied to the moneys most used in West Africa. Among the many questions that warrant examination are: what were the similarities and dissimilarities in the acquisition of the new moneys; what were the costs of these