Talk:British West African pound

Untitled

Shouldn't this article be retitled the British West African Pound? (192.190.108.19 01:45, 12 February 2006 (UTC))

Yes
Dove1950 20:20, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

Yes, especially to disambig with French West Africa. --Chochopk 07:18, 17 February 2006 (UTC)

Stub?

Does this article still warrant the stub category? DVokes 18:43, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

Confusion

There is a problem here: the (British) West African Currency Board was not even created until 19l3, its Board of Directors meeting for the first time on 21 November. The West African pound was introduced in 1916.

The 1907 coins referred to in this entry were not issued by the West African Currency Board; they were issued by the government of Nigeria (then officially the Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria) under authority of the Nigeria Coinage Order of 1906.

This entry needs to be re-written, but to be coherent it must have a proper context. This means that the pre-1913 currency history of Nigeria (and the other territories of British West Africa) must be addressed.Sivasova (talk) 15:33, 18 January 2008 (UTC)

The first coins bear the inscription "Nigeria - British West Africa". From 1912, the word Nigeria was dropped, which is probably why the date 1912 is given for the take over by the West African Currency Board. This ought to be changed. However, is there evidence that the early issues were only Nigerian or were they issued by Nigeria for all the colonies?
Dove1950 (talk) 15:50, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

I should point out that I am not a coin collector. What I say about coins comes from what I've read about them in relation to economic and monetary history.

The "Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria", formed in February 1906 by uniting the colony of Lagos and the protectorate of Southern Nigeria, was then the most important colony in British West Africa. By that time, British silver coin was the dominant currency. The government of Nigeria (then Lagos) had been campaigning for a separate West African currency since the 1890s, without success.

I assume the coins were inscribed "Nigeria - British West Africa" because they were authorized by Southern Nigeria in 1906 for circulation in Nigeria (both Southern and Northern), but I expect they circulated in all the British West African colonies - and beyond. Nigeria had also proposed a government note issue, but this had been rejected by the Colonial Secretary.

The coins inscribed "British West Africa" were authorized by the British West Africa Currency Board in 1912 and first released to circulation at the end of 1913.

I strongly dislike the idea of calling notes issued by a currency board "banknotes". They are more usually called "currency notes". Where I can find the an explanation of the principles being used in Wikipedia for the names of currencies, currency articles, headings, subheadings, etc.? Sivasova (talk) 19:15, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

For our standards, see [Wikipedia:WikiProject Numismatics] and links there in. I'm happy to see "currency note" replacing "banknote" where appropriate, although I must say that banknote is used in common parlance even if it's not strictly accurate. Do you have some references for all this information?
Dove1950 (talk) 21:27, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

You are quite right about the way "banknote" is used in common parlance. But common parlance, while suitable for general conversation, is not adequate for encyclopedias and reference works, which are expected to use terms more rigorously (and to use specialized terms).

WikiProject Numismatics uses expressions and conventions not commonly encountered in the traditional body of English-language numismatic literature. That is why I wanted to find out more about the rationale behind the guidelines that are in place.

Take Russian ruble as an example. Headings such as "First ruble, Antiquity - December 31 1921" and "Second ruble, January 1 1922 - December 31 1922" are...well, bizarre. They ignore the fact that a large body of numismatic literature on this subject already exists in English, and that anyone acquainted with it would readily understand a reference to a Russian or a Soviet ruble (or rouble) of 1922 or to the 1922 ruble, etc., but a reference to "Second ruble" would be meaningless (to anyone who has not consulted Wikipedia). Moreover, this naming convention (first, second, third...) begs for trouble. This should be apparent from a "first ruble" covering antiquity through 1921 (and "ruble" in this sense really dates back only to the period 1480-1520, hardly antiquity). Merely between 1768, when Russian paper money was introduced, and 1921, there were at least four different kinds of ruble (depending on the Wiki guideline for counting currency units as first, second, etc., which I have been unable to find).

But I am new to Wikipedia and this may simply be ignorance on my part, since I do not know why traditional naming has been replaced by new conventions. Further, I realize this dialogue would be more appropriate on some other talk page, but I don't know which.Sivasova (talk) 13:34, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Please put these points up for general discussion on Wikipedia:WikiProject Numismatics/Style.
Dove1950 (talk) 15:57, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

end of the currency

The article merely states when the WAP was phased out/replaced.

But when was it completely and officially no longer in use? When was it last issued?

Do note that "when the last country in the table had switched, ie in 1965" is not necessarily the correct answer. Regardless, source please. CapnZapp (talk) 12:23, 15 November 2018 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress

There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:History of pound sterling in Oceania which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 03:49, 5 July 2022 (UTC)