RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 War, Finance, and Monetary Reform in Ashanti, 1807–1935
JF African Economic History
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 21
OP 59
DO 10.3368/aeh.53.1.21
VO 53
IS 1
A1 Adjepong-Boateng, Kofi
YR 2025
UL https://aeh.uwpress.org/aeh.uwpress.org/content/53/1/21.abstract
AB Gold dust was introduced as legal tender in Ashanti during Osei Tutu’s reign, which ended around 1712. During the nineteenth century, gold dust ran short in Ashanti principally because of the changing nature of trade between Ashanti and the British and due to mismanagement under Asantehene Kofi Kakari (1867–1874). The article asks why the Asante did not introduce coinage during this period to conserve bullion, even though they were familiar with the use of coins and had the skills and technology to produce coinage. This article starts in 1807, when the British ban of the transatlantic slave trade took place, impacting Ashanti’s money supply. The analysis ends in 1935, by which time the coinage managed by British colonial administration was in general use.