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By Aamir Mannan. 

The demise of the slave trade resulted in the prohibition of manillas as a form of currency. A constant reminder and a tangible symbol of slavery and the slave trade, the British initialled a major recall of all manillas and replaced them with the British West African currency. Many of the existing manillas were collected, confiscated and sold as scrap. Much of it was melted and transformed in other usable goods.

Manillas are typically horse-shaped with flared ends. Africans from each region had names for each variety of manila and were 

very particular about the types they would accept. They valued the Manillas by the sound they made when struck and used them as the dominant form of currency for many things including everyday market purchases, bride price and burials. The main purpose of the manilla – the trading and purchase of slaves- fostered a system where the incoming voyage of Europeans took manillas to West Africa to obtain slaves, who were then taken to the Americas to live a life of bondage. The price of a slave valued in manillas varied depending on the time, place and type being offered.