Paper short abstract:

Counterfeit was a solution for some and a problem for others. Economic historians of West Africa insisted on the importance of counterfeit schemes during the interwar period. Analyzing counterfeit practices reveals nuances of the institution of the French colonial currency in West Africa.

Paper long abstract:

The interwar period in West Africa was a time of massive currency instability. Drawing on cases in Togo and Cameroun this paper focuses on counterfeiting of French colonial currency. In contrast to the image of all-powerful colonial banks and administrations, this paper suggests to look at monetary politics from the marginal perspective of currency reproduction. Archival sources from the Ministère des colonies (ANOM, Aix-en-Provence) reveal the French administration’s incapacity of responding to demands of money users for a stable and trustworthy currency. However, taxpayers, shop owners as well as workers were often confronted to situations with a lack of money (“manque d’argent”).

Counterfeit was a solution for some and a problem for others. Economic historians of West Africa insisted on the importance of counterfeit schemes during the 1920 and 1930s global financial crisis . Since most transactions on West African markets involved alloy coins, produced out of cheap metals and no longer gold and silver, it became easier to produce counterfeit coins. The production varied from local blacksmiths using molds to press money to internationally connected entrepreneurs reaching out to the imperial metropoles.

The economic relevance of counterfeit was limited, because it did not harm the colonial economy. However, the political and symbolic role should not be underestimated. Colonial administrations feared the loss of control over the already very limited circulation of their currencies. Counterfeiters perceived their work not as criminal, but rather as a pragmatic act of money making or even as resistance. Analyzing counterfeit practices makes the moral dimension of money making visible and reveals nuances of the institution of the French colonial currency in West Africa.