The 'red gold' of Africa that fueled the Atlantic slave trade

History · Published 18 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Long before paper notes or digital coins, West African markets relied on heavy metal bracelets as currency. Known as manillas, these copper and brass rings were so essential to trade that they became the primary medium for exchanging ivory, peppers, and, most tragically, human beings.

Manillas, also known as Okpoho, were a form of commodity money that originated in Calabar, the chief city of an ancient southeast Nigerian coastal kingdom. While they were originally traditional African exchange mediums, they gained international prominence in the 1470s when Portuguese explorers recognized their use as a means of exchange along the west coast. In these markets, copper was regarded as 'red gold'—the primary metal for value judgments—whereas gold was primarily reserved for adornment and export. By the early 16th century, manillas became a staple of the Atlantic slave trade. In 1505, a slave in Calabar could be purchased for 8 to 10 manillas, while an elephant's tusk cost just one copper manila. As the trade expanded, European powers—including the Portuguese, Dutch, English, and French—began mass-producing manillas to facilitate the purchase of slaves, ivory, and palm oil.

By 1522, inflation had driven the price of a 16-year-old female slave in Benin to approximately 50 manillas. This demand even spurred industrial investment in Britain; by 1788, the 'Copper King' Thomas Williams declared that the slave trade had led him to invest heavily in the copper industry. The physical evolution of the manilla reflects the shift from local craft to industrial manufacturing. Early Portuguese types were heavy, but by the 1690s, British innovations in brass production gave them a competitive edge. This led to the 'Birmingham manilla,' a crescent-shaped piece with flared ends. While some patterns were manufactured specifically for the slave trade—too small to be worn as bracelets—others remained in use as general-purpose currency in Nigeria and Guinea well into the 19th century, finally being withdrawn in 1949.

The value of manillas was highly nuanced, dictated by regional customs and physical properties. Traders were often particular about which types they accepted, with some varieties valued specifically for the sound they made when struck. Different patterns served different markets: the Antony Manilla was valued in interior markets, while the Onadoo was preferred in the Kingdom of Calabar. This complex system of 'money' highlights a sophisticated pre-colonial economy that was eventually co-opted by the machinery of global maritime trade.

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