Wealth of Africa: 4,000 years of money and trade
20 January – 26 June 2005
Exhibition closed
Part of Africa '05 season
Africa has a long and rich history, spanning ancient kingdoms,
colonialism and independence. This exhibition takes you on a tour
of this dynamic continent through its money, from coins to copper
ingots, raffia cloth and cowrie shells.
The story begins with the use of weighed metal in Ancient Egypt,
and with Africa's earliest coins in Cyrenaica (modern-day Libya) in
the sixth century BC. The wealth of Mali, Zimbabwe, and the Swahili
Coast show Africa's power and influence before the arrival of
European colonisers and slave traders, whose legacy still
lingers.
Links between money and identity are explored through changes to
the coinage during the spread of Christianity and Islam, and the
designing of currencies in the twentieth century for
newly-independent African countries.