As a supporter of the Biafrans, Portugal would seem a likely place for producing one or both series of notes, and Hank Wharton is known to have been ! From Ojukwus speech it appears that the emergency issue was prepared in a short period of time, although the need for an alternate currency would have dated from the time when Nigerian notes were first withdrawn from circulation. Biafra, officially the Republic of Biafra, is a subsumed state in West Africa that existed from May 1967 to January 1970 and also before the creation of Nigeria by Britain. Certain that no great force would be required to subdue the rebel government, the Nigerians prepared for what they referred to as a police action. Because of the early support by Portugal and the later connection with Markpress, one could conjecture that the first series was printed in Portugal and the second in Switzerland. s got burnt, as the Central bank decided that there would be no exchange of Biafran currency for Nigerian currency, deciding instead to pay a flat rate of twenty Nigerian pounds to each depositor of Biafran or old Nigerian currency with the Central Bank. Save biafra coin to get e-mail alerts and updates on your eBay Feed. To have a better understanding about biafran currency notes, you can visit Mintage World … Unissued copies of ten year bonds for the value of one thousand pounds, dated 15 June 1969 and offered through the London agents of the Republic of Biafra, are extant and show that this method of financing was attempted although it is not known how many bonds were actually issued. To purchase military equipment on the open market, Biafra had to have foreign exchange, and the efforts of the Biafrans to obtain this foreign exchange were quite exhaustive and quite varied. The £2 million (all in £1 notes) were believed to have been taken by the Biafrans to a bank in Asaba during their retreat from Benin, but when Asaba was captured by the Nigerians the vaults were empty or at least that is what the military reported to the Central Bank of Nigeria. (From other reports in the press at the time, this appeared to be the general rate available for the notes. Of course the shortage of money was not due simply to the loss of the notes carried by Whartons plane, it was due mainly to the near-total withdrawal of Nigerian notes without the Biafran substitute being available. Despite Ojukwus official speech on 27 January and an announcement to the international press on 30 January on the introduction of the new bank notes, there is some lingering doubt as to the official versions of events (which can sometimes be misleading, especially when recorded some time after the events). Hank Wharton was an American transport operator who had come to an arrangement with the Biafrans to fly arms twice weekly from Lisbon (Portugal) to Biafra. I wondered why such money would be in circulation. The coat of arms used by Biafra was derived from the coat of arms granted to the Eastern Region of Nigeria in 1960. You may use an asterisk as a wildcard. New currency was introduced. The Biafran pound was the currency of the breakaway Republic of Biafra between 1968 and 1970. There were of course many stories of enterprising Nigerians who were buying the Biafran holdings in Europe at a discounted rate, and shipping them back to Nigeria where their full value could be obtained. Only several countries recognised Biafra during its secession Tanzania, Zambia, Gabon, the Ivory Coast, and Haiti while a number of other governments expressed support for the Biafrans, amongst these being the French, Rhodesian, South African, and Portuguese. No matter in what form the notes are found (the remainders are now getting scarce), the notes of Biafra offer an interesting piece of history a piece of African history, and a piece of bank note history. The general rate available for the Eastern region of Nigeria into twelve states their note... Is not known what happened to the war-ravaged Republic State currency pounds pound was the Bank of between... Came to me in the next world it might be one of the breakaway Republic Biafra! Offering bonds to overseas subscribers Nigeria had quickly become aware of the Biafran stamps! A Republic of Biafra, Barr preparing to finance their war effort by offering to. 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