THE GAMBIA
A Closer
Look at the Coins of The Gambia
The Gambian 1966 2
Shillings (scaled to 200dpi)
The Gambia, one of
the smaller nations in West Africa,
gained
independence in 1965. The following year the country introduced its own
coinage. The first series of Gambian coins were a pre-decimal series
comprising
1 Penny, 3 Pence, 6 Pence, 1 Shilling, 2 Shillings, oddly 4 Shillings
and
surprisingly 8 Shillings. All were dated 1966, except the 8 Shillings,
issued
later on and dated 1970. All types have the Arnold Machin portrait of
Elizabeth
II, with country name “THE GAMBIA” and date on the obverse. The 1966
coins
feature a set of realistic designs by Michael Rizzello who also put
forward
designs for the 8 Shillings coin. However, the design finally used for
this
type was one that had been provided by Spink & Son. They were the
distributors for the 8 Shillings outside of The Gambia. From Penny to 8
Shillings these designs are a sailing vessel, a Double-spurred
Francolin, some
Peanuts, an Oil Palm, an African Domestic Ox, a Slender-snouted
Crocodile and a
bathing Hippopotamus respectively. This artwork, with the exception of
that on
the 8 Shillings type, was to see further use on all of the Gambian
decimal
circulation coins, though not in quite the same order. On this series,
the designs
include the denomination numeral in western numerals and the
denomination name
in English. Further to this there are Arabic inscriptions for the full
denomination in both Wolof and Mandinka languages on just the 4
Shillings and
the 8 Shillings. Much of Gambia’s
population comprises Wolof people and Mandinka people.
The Gambian 1966 4 Shillings (scaled to
200dpi)
The
Arabic script on the 4 Shillings coins says “dalasi” and
“dérém”,
these words are each derived from the word “Dirham”. According to a
section of
the website of the Central Bank of The Gambia (http://www.cbg.gm),
by 1880, silver coins, mainly French 5 Franc types, were in general use
in the
country. Further, the replacement of those various coins with British
coins
began in 1892. At that time the official exchange rate of French Francs
to
British Shillings was 5 Francs to a penny or two short of 4 Shillings.
So it
would seem that around this time the local names for 5 Francs (i.e.
“dalasi” in
the Mandinka language and “dérém” in the Wolof language)
were adopted in The
Gambia as names for an amount of 4 Shillings. Wolof people in
neighbouring Senegal
continue to use the word “dérém” as a name for an amount
of 5 Francs of their
own currency.
The Gambian 1970 8 Shillings (scaled to 200dpi)
The
Arabic script on the 8 Shillings coins says "dalasi fula"
(Mandinka) and "dérém nyaar" (Wolof). Note the addition
of a word for
“two” in each case as compared to the 4 Shillings type. The natural
next
highest denomination from 1 Dalasi/Dérém chosen for a
special issue coin was 2
Dalasi/Dérém and that brought about this rare occurrence
of a coin of eight
Shillings. The last time a coin of this value had been issued was in Scotland,
and
those coins were only issued for a short while during 1581. My source
for that
info was page 141 of the June 1970 issue of “Coin Monthly”, which was
detailing
the then new issue of the Gambian 8 Shillings. That same source also
said of
the new coin that: - “It is also the first coin with a hippopotamus
since the
time of Philip I who, in 248 A.D., to commemorate 1,000 years of Rome, commanded a
special
circus of wild animals which were represented on the coins of that
year.”
The Gambian 1971 25 Bututs (scaled to 200dpi)
The Gambia
became a republic in 1970. The following year the country moved to a
decimal
currency system. The first decimal coins were dated 1971 and were
introduced on
1st July 1971. The “Dalasi” had been chosen as the new unit of account,
and it
remained equivalent to four Shillings of the country’s pre-decimal
system. This
was in contrast to other Commonwealth countries that ceased to have
their Pound
at decimalisation – it seems that they all adopted a new currency unit
equal to
ten of their pre-decimal Shillings. For example in Rhodesia,
Australia and New Zealand this unit was a Dollar; in Malawi and Zambia
a Kwacha; in South Africa
a
Rand and in Nigeria
a Naira. For the decimal system, the Dalasi was divided into 100
Bututs.
“Butut” is from the Wolof word “butuut” which means “something small”.
The Gambia’s
first decimal series comprised 6 denominations: 1, 5, 10, 25 and 50
Bututs and
1 Dalasi. The obverse of each of these coins features the portrait of
the then
president Dawda Jawara, the country title “REPUBLIC OF THE
GAMBIA”
and the date. The reverses for this series all include wildlife designs
as previously
used for the pre-decimal coins. On each type the reverse also includes
the
denomination numeral in western numerals and the denomination name in
both
English and in Arabic script. The word “butuut” is included in Arabic
script on
the 1, 5, 10, 25 and 50 Bututs coins. The word “dérém”
(Wolof language for
“Dalasi”) in Arabic script is included on the 1 Dalasi coin, just as it
had
appeared on the 4 Shillings coins. Some 1 Butut coins were made with
the Arabic
script replaced by the motto “FOOD FOR MANKIND”. Some of those
particular 1
Butut coins were dated 1985. The only later first series decimal coins
were the
1 Dalasi coins with date 1987. Those 1 Dalasi coins were not large and
round
like those dated 1971 but were smaller and had seven rounded sides, the
new
size and shape for the 1 Dalasi was to be used again on the 1998 series.
The
Gambian 1998 1 Dalasi (scaled to
200dpi)
The Gambia’s
most recent coins, the 1998 dated series, are effectively their second
series
of decimal coins. The obverse of each coin features the Gambian coat of
arms,
the country title “REPUBLIC
OF THE GAMBIA”
and the
date. These coins are otherwise as per the first series coins, although
the 1998
coins of 1, 5 and 10 Bututs are made of plated Steel. This was the
first use of
such materials for Gambian coinage.
In
September 2005, the 1998 series of coins got a mention in a low
profile news story in both the U.K.
and The Gambia. A retired sales director from the British Royal Mint
stood
trial for conspiracy because he had allegedly received a large payment
from an
employee of the Central Bank of The Gambia. One report on the trial
mentioned
that the alleged conspiracy to defraud the Royal Mint occurred during
the
period 1996 to 2001 and involved a contract for the minting of 40
million
coins. I can only deduce that this must relate to the 6 type series of
1998
dated Gambian coins. Another report made mention of The Birmingham
Mint. Presumably
that mint had been involved as a sub-contractor for the British Royal
Mint. The
defendant in the case was cleared. However, at the time, even the
thought of
something like this getting to court was quite interesting.
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