Antique Fine Massive Copper Manilla – African Currency – Sahel

End 19th – early 20th century. Copper grams 1.214 (42.82 oz.). Cm. 10,5 high x cm. 13,0 width x cm. 2,7 thickness (4.13″ x 5.12″ x 1.06″).

Manillas are a form of money, usually made of bronze or copper, which were used in West Africa. They were produced in large numbers in a wide range of designs, sizes, and weights. Originating before the colonial period, perhaps as the result of trade with the Portuguese Empire, Manillas continued to serve as money and decorative objects until the late 1940s and are still used as decorative objects in some contexts.

The name manilla is said to derive from the Spanish for a ‘bracelet’ manella, the Portuguese for ‘hand-ring’ manilha, or after the Latin manus (hand) or from monilia, plural of monile (necklace).

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