British Museum – Wealth of africa
20 January – 26 June 2005, Admission free
Africa has a long and rich history, spanning ancient kingdoms, colonialism and independence. 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 coinage during the spread of Christianity and Islam, along with the designing of currencies in the twentieth century for newly-independent African countries.
Source: British Museum