This is a draft cheat sheet. It is a work in progress and is not finished yet.
1. Early African money
1. Egyptians were the first to use money. - They matched their value of metal to the value of oxen. Egyptian coins have been found along the Eastern Cape coastline. |
2. Crowrie shells, gold, copper and iron were used as a form of payment. |
2. Indigenous money
- Indigenous people and colonists initially bartered (they wanted beads, brandy, tobacco etc) |
- Despite this, they had their own currency (E.g. The san used rounded pieces of ostrich shells, The Zulu's used copper bangles and assegai points) |
3. Colonial Money
1. The colonists used many currencies (e.g. The Spanish Silver Dollar, the Dutch Florin, the Indian Ruppee, French + British Crowe etc. ) |
2. the Vereningide Oostindische Comoagnie (VOC) eventually started releasing exchange currencies between the Dutch Florin and foreign currencies as without it there were exchange issues. |
3. 1700s more goods were being smuggled into the Cape than what was being sold... This meant there was a shortage of coins. This lead to the introduction of the paper rixdollar which replaced the coin by 1782 |
4. The first African Nation to release their own minted (stamped coins) currency (Dove Money - emblem of London missionary society) was the Griquas. |
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4. Imperial Money
1806 - British took over |
1826 - Implementdes Sterling (British money) alongside rixdollar. |
1841 - Sterling was the only Legal Tender in Cape Colony and Natal |
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