Item number: A1281

Year: AD 1804-1903

Material: Copper

Size: 12.0 x 10.0 x 4.5 cm

Weight: 1635.8 g

Provenance: Teutoburger Münzauktion GmbH 2023

This is a copper manilla coin, shaped like a bracelet, minted in the Sokoto region of northwestern Nigeria between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Historically, West Africa has been a significant source of gold; however, the local populace favoured red copper or brass for daily transactions and decorative purposes. Weighing 1.6 kg, this manilla was likely not intended for routine trade but rather served as a dowry gift for marriage or a symbolic ceremonial object within tribal contexts.

This manilla is entirely orange-red in colour and features a twisted spiral design at its centre. Its surface is adorned with a pattern composed of concentric circles, spiral motifs, triangles, and geometric lines of varying sizes.

Sokoto, in the 19th century, served as the capital of the Sokoto Caliphate, an Islamic state in West Africa. The Sokoto Caliphate was established in AD 1804 by the Islamic scholar Usman dan Fodio through a jihad, forming a loosely federated but highly influential power in contemporary West Africa. As a key transit hub between the Sahara Desert and the Gulf of Guinea, Sokoto was a vital commercial centre in the trans-Saharan trade network and a significant site for the slave trade. In AD 1853, British influence began to penetrate the declining Sokoto Caliphate, and after approximately half a century, it was annexed in AD 1903, becoming part of the British-controlled Northern Nigeria Protectorate.

物件編號: A1281

年代: 公元 1804-1903 年

材質: 銅

尺寸: 12.0 x 10.0 x 4.5 cm

重量: 1635.8 g

來源: 條頓堡錢幣拍賣 2023

這是一枚公元19世紀末至20世紀初，於奈及利亞西北部的索科托鑄造之手環外觀的馬尼拉銅幣。西非在歷史上一直是重要的黃金出產地，但是當地人在日常卻偏好以紅銅或黃銅作為日常的交易或裝飾。這一枚重達1.6公斤的馬尼拉，其用途應該不是用作日常交易，而是作為婚嫁聘禮或部族的象徵禮器。

這一枚馬尼拉的通體為橘紅色，並且在中間有表現出扭曲的螺旋造型。而在表面打印以不同尺寸的同心圓、螺旋紋、三角形和幾何線條合成的紋飾。

索科托在公元19世紀是西非伊斯蘭政權索科托哈里發國的首都。索科托哈里發國是阿訇奧斯曼·丹·福迪奧於公元1804年以發動聖戰建立的國家，以鬆散的聯邦組成但卻是同時代西非地區最為顯赫的霸權。而索科托作為撒哈拉沙漠和幾內亞灣的中繼站，是西非跨撒哈拉貿易網的重要商業據點，並且也是奴隸貿易的重要據點之一。公元1853年，英國勢力開始進入國勢衰退的索科托哈里發國，並且經過半世紀左右的時間於公元1903年將其併吞，成為英國控制的北奈及利亞保護國。