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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Computing Domestic Prices in Precolonial West Africa: A Methodological Exercise from the Slave Coast |
Author: | Law, Robin R. |
Year: | 1991 |
Periodical: | History in Africa |
Volume: | 18 |
Pages: | 239-257 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Benin |
Subjects: | currencies prices history 1600-1699 1700-1799 1800-1899 History and Exploration Economics and Trade |
External link: | https://www.jstor.org/stable/3172064 |
Abstract: | One of the most striking features of the operation of the European trade in the West African 'Slave Coast' (roughly, the modern Republic of Benin) was the prominence among the commodities imported of cowry shells, which were used locally as a currency. Assessment of the impact of the European trade requires detailed empirical study of the operation of this cowry currency, and in particular of the question of whether the massive importation of cowries which it involved led to significant depreciation of their local value. Although there is a great deal of contemporary documentation of the prices of various commodities in local markets between the 17th and 19th centuries, this evidence presents considerable problems of interpretation. This paper deals with the problems arising from the variety of forms in which prices are expressed: cowries, European currencies, 'manillas' (brass bracelets), iron bars, and slaves. Notes, ref. |