British West African pound

E279687

colonial currency historical currency

The British West African pound was a colonial currency used in several British territories in West Africa, pegged to the British pound sterling and issued in the first half of the 20th century.

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All labels observed (2)

Label	Occurrences
British West African pound canonical	13
West African pound	2

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T2584070 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: British West African pound
Context triple: [British Gold Coast, currency, British West African pound]

A. Rhodesian pound
The Rhodesian pound was the former currency of Rhodesia, used before the country adopted the Rhodesian dollar and later evolved into modern Zimbabwe’s monetary system.
B. Transvaal pound
The Transvaal pound was the former currency of the South African Republic (Transvaal) used in the late 19th and early 20th centuries before being superseded by the South African pound.
C. Saint Helena pound
The Saint Helena pound is the official currency of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, issued by the local government and maintained at parity with the British pound sterling.
D. Rhodesian dollar
The Rhodesian dollar was the former national currency of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), used during the country’s period of white-minority rule before being succeeded by the Zimbabwean dollar.
E. British Guiana dollar
The British Guiana dollar was the former monetary unit used in the British colony of British Guiana before it became independent Guyana.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: British West African pound
Target entity description: The British West African pound was a colonial currency used in several British territories in West Africa, pegged to the British pound sterling and issued in the first half of the 20th century.

A. Rhodesian pound
The Rhodesian pound was the former currency of Rhodesia, used before the country adopted the Rhodesian dollar and later evolved into modern Zimbabwe’s monetary system.
B. Transvaal pound
The Transvaal pound was the former currency of the South African Republic (Transvaal) used in the late 19th and early 20th centuries before being superseded by the South African pound.
C. Saint Helena pound
The Saint Helena pound is the official currency of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, issued by the local government and maintained at parity with the British pound sterling.
D. Rhodesian dollar
The Rhodesian dollar was the former national currency of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), used during the country’s period of white-minority rule before being succeeded by the Zimbabwean dollar.
E. British Guiana dollar
The British Guiana dollar was the former monetary unit used in the British colony of British Guiana before it became independent Guyana.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (46)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	colonial currency ⓘ historical currency ⓘ
country	British West Africa ⓘ
currencySymbol	£ ⓘ
dateDissolved	1960s ⓘ
denomination	1 penny coin ⓘ 1 pound banknote ⓘ 1 shilling coin ⓘ 10 shillings banknote ⓘ 2 shillings 6 pence coin ⓘ 2 shillings coin ⓘ 3 pence coin ⓘ 5 pounds banknote ⓘ 5 shillings coin ⓘ 6 pence coin ⓘ
exchangeParityWithPoundSterling	1:1 ⓘ
introduced	1912 ⓘ
issuer	West African Currency Board ⓘ
legalTenderIn	Gambia ⓘ linked to: The Gambia Gold Coast ⓘ Nigeria ⓘ Sierra Leone ⓘ
monetarySystem	£sd ⓘ
peggedTo	pound sterling ⓘ linked to: Pound sterling
region	West Africa ⓘ
replacedBy	Gambian pound ⓘ Ghanaian pound ⓘ linked to: Ghanaian cedi Nigerian pound ⓘ Sierra Leonean pound ⓘ local post-independence currencies in West Africa ⓘ
replacedCurrency	British pound sterling ⓘ linked to: Pound sterling various local currencies in British West Africa ⓘ
subunit	penny ⓘ shilling ⓘ
subunitToUnitRatio	12 pence = 1 shilling ⓘ 20 shillings = 1 pound ⓘ 240 pence = 1 pound ⓘ
usedFrom	1912 ⓘ
usedIn	British Cameroon ⓘ linked to: Trust Territory of Cameroon under British administration Gambia ⓘ linked to: The Gambia Ghana ⓘ Gold Coast ⓘ Nigeria ⓘ Sierra Leone ⓘ
usedInColonialAdministrationOf	British West African colonies ⓘ linked to: British West Africa
usedUntil	1960s ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (15)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

British Gold Coast → currency → British West African pound ⓘ

Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria → currency → British West African pound ⓘ

Trust Territory of Togoland under British administration → currency → British West African pound ⓘ

British West Africa → currency → British West African pound ⓘ

British West Africa → usedCommonCurrency → British West African pound ⓘ

Sierra Leonean leone → replacedCurrency → British West African pound ⓘ

Gold Coast Colony → currency → British West African pound ⓘ

Western Region, Gold Coast → currencyUsed → British West African pound ⓘ

West African Currency Board → mainCurrency → West African pound ⓘ

linked to: British West African pound

Gold Coast (Ghana) → currency → British West African pound ⓘ

Nigerian pound → replaced → British West African pound ⓘ

Nigerian pound → precededBy → British West African pound ⓘ

Sierra Leone Colony and Protectorate → currency → British West African pound ⓘ

Sierra Leonean pound → replacedCurrency → British West African pound ⓘ

Sierra Leonean pound → replacedCurrency → West African pound ⓘ