The West African Manilla Currency E-Book

Rolf Denk

• Herausgeber: tredition
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 513

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

Prof . Dr Rolf Denk, born in Düsseldorf in 1935, worked as a dermatologist in the Mainz University Hospital and afterwards in his own specialist practice in Rüsselsheim. In 1978 he and other collectors were among the founders of the European Union to Search for, Collect, and Preserve Primitive and Curious Money (EUCOPRIMO). In 1981 he took over the editing of the journal Der Primitivgeldsammler. After completing his medical career, he devoted himself more to the research of early indigenous means of payment. 110 own publications have appeared on this topic. In 2017 he published the monograph "Das Manillen-Geld West Afrikas" of which he now presents a revised and extended edition in English. The currency manillas discussed in this book are open metal rings that were used by Europeans as means of payment in trade with the local population from the mid-15th to mid-20th century in various areas of the West Coast of Africa. All currency manillas were made in Europe and are not indigenous products. Therefore is not correct and misleading to designate the foot, arm and neck rings produced in the country itself as manillas. The early Portuguese manillas, also called tacoais, were largely produced according to Portuguese specifications in Flanders and Germany. They are heavier and larger than the so-called Birmingham manillas, which originated in England and were mainly exported to southern Nigeria, where they were in circulation as market money with the Igbo and Ibibo. An intermediate position in terms of shape, weight and metal composition is occupied by the popo manillas, probably produced in England and France and mainly used in the Ivory Coast. On the basis of extensive literature research, an attempt is made to obtain more precise data on the production, use and typification of the different currency manillas and to show their clear distinction from the indigenous metal rings.

Leseprobe

The West African Manilla Currency

Research and Securing of Evidence from 1439–2019

Rolf Denk

Rüsselsheim2020

Revised and extended edition of the 2017 German first issue

© 2020 Rolf Denk

Cover image:

Portuguese tacoais manilla from the maritime find of Cidade Velha,

Santiago Island, Cape Verde.

Editing: Rolf Denk

Publisher: tredition GmbH, Halenreie 40-44, 22359 Hamburg

ISBN

Hardcover 978-3-347-01539-5

This book contains links to third party websites. I assume no liability for their content, as I do not own them, but merely refer to their status at the time of initial publication.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by electronic, mechanical, or other means, currently in existence or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Contents

Foreword and acknowledgements

Introduction

1 Manillas from the Kingdom of Congo

2 Early written Portuguesesources on the tacoais manillas of the Portuguese

3 Excerpts from former Portuguese merchant ship’s books

4 Reports of early non-Portuguese – except English – trade journeys

5 Early English documents

6 Reports on the origin of Portuguese tacoais manillas

7 The shape of Portuguese tacoais manillas

8 Maritime Archaeology

9 African Archaeological tacoais manillas finds

10 Outlook and open questions

11 The popo manilla type

12 Wreck finds of popo type manillas

13 The so-called Birmingham manillas

14 Archaeological finds of the so-called Birmingham manillas

15 Categorising the different so-called Birmingham manillas

16 How were the so-called Birmingham (and popo) manillas produced?

17 The indigenous use of the so-called Birmingham manillas

18 The so-called king and queen manillas

19 Demonetisation of English origin manillas

20 Manillas as a symbol of state and identity

Summary

Annexe I: Benin bronze plaques with depictions of Portuguese tacoais manillas and metal analyses

Annexe II: Metal analyses of tacoais, popo, and Birmingham manillas. Including one king manilla

Annexe III: Selected currency manillas of the Ethological Museum Berlin. Metal analyses by Otto Werner 1970, 1976, 1978 and Josef Riederer 2013/14

Annexe IV: Manillas from the Adoni juju fetish house in Allabia, Southern Nigeria Whitehouse expedition in the Bende hinterland Kept in the British Museum, London

Annexe V: Statute for the demonetisation of the manillas (Ivory Coast)

Annexe VI: Statute for the demonetisation of the manillas (Nigeria). A Bill for An Ordinance to Prohibit the Use of Manillas as Currency

Bibliography

Addendum

Maps

Illustrations

Index of authors

Index of subjects

Foreword and acknowledgements

The reason for this publication arose from the desire to return the term manilla to its original meaning, because manilla is mostly used arbitrarily for all kinds of metal rings from West and Central Africa. Initially intended as a simple clarification, the review of relevant publications made it necessary to search for primary sources. Thereby, an extensive bank of material came together, which I would like to make accessible to all interested groups.

In the age of worldwide online source searches and, above all, source study, it is possible to view texts that would otherwise be difficult to access in their original version. This was not always possible without linguistic help, because of the need to interpret Portuguese / Old Portuguese, Spanish / Old Spanish, French / Old French, Dutch / Old Dutch, Norwegian and English / Old English texts.

It was necessary to study the original language versions as primary sources, because in later German, English, French and Dutch translations, often only rings or bracelets are mentioned, while in the Portuguese original text, the term manilla is found. However, the opposite is also true. In translated texts manillas are referred to, while in the original they are called rings or bracelets. Often only by evaluation of the accompanying trade goods one can draw final conclusions. Some questions can only be answered theoretically because documents containing proof have not yet been discovered.

To be as realistic as possible, I have chosen to quote from many sources and as such, have chosen to quote the original texts just as they were written, including their original spelling. I have translated a large part of the quotes into English for easier understanding. The original text passages and their translation are shown in italics. The latter also applies to paraphrased translations. Additions and explanations in the text quotations added by me are indicated by square brackets. Help with specific translations is noted in footnotes.

All textual references to illustrations refer to the images at the end of the book. In the pictures, I have stated the sources as accurately as possible and to the best of my knowledge. If information is inaccurate or incorrect, please let me know so that I can correct it. Images without source credits come from the author.

Firstly, I would like to thank my wife Dr Brigitte Denk, who with great care and patience created an environment in which the idea for this book could mature, develop, and be perfected.

In addition, a large number of people supported me in this book project. Our children Dr Barbara Denk and Dr Michael Denk, who convinced me that the days of paper-based archives have no future, gave me ideas for building a specific, indigenous currency-oriented database and helped me in editing photos and tables.

Matthias Batay of the Rüsselsheim city library took care of my often unusual literature requests and thus enabled a review of the original texts. He handled several thousand interlibrary loans for me.

Mrs M A Esther Hoffmann and Joerg Ruppe translated old Portuguese records. Willem Haaxman and Jan van Loo helped to translate old, as well as modern Dutch texts. Renate Tessmar Leonardi, Christel Wartski and Dr Klaus Roggenkamp translated several Spanish text passages. Fritz Klusmeier and Alexander Schmalix M. Sc. supported me with references to unusual and often hidden sources of literature. Dr Miguel Ibáñez provided me with literature only available in Spain, and Prof Dr Gerd Janzen advised me on nautical questions. Mrs Barbara Lawson, curator at the Redpath Museum in Montreal, supported me with pictures of manillas and their corresponding measurements from the museum's collection. Nikolaus Graf von und zu Sandizell enabled me to study the Cape Verdean tacoais manillas. Tony Coverdale supported me with information, photos and maps from the Saltford Brass

Mill Project. Jonathan Fine, M A, J D helped me find data about manillas from the Ethnological Museum Berlin collection. Else-Britt Filipsson from Gothenburg City Museum supported me with information and photographs from the manilla discovery on Grötö Island. I would like to thank Dr Boaz Paz and Dr Sonja Behrendt (PAZ Laboratories for Archaeometry) and Tobias Skowronek (Forschungslabor Deutsches Bergbau-Museum) for their support with metal analytic investigation.

For their meticulous review and correction of my English translation, I thank Bianca Blüchel and Andrew Starr.

Rüsselsheim, February 2020

Rolf Denk