Kilwa copper coinage
Moneda de cobre de Kilwa
- Date
- c. 1100 · confidence medium
- Place
- Kilwa Kisiwani, Lindi, Tanzania
- Credited to
- Sultans of Kilwa
- Field
- Communication
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Copper coins minted with the sultan's name for local coastal trade. They have been found at Great Zimbabwe and in the Wessel Islands, in northern Australia.
Shanga (Kenya) already minted silver coinage in the 9th century. The chronology of the sultans of Kilwa is disputed; the Australian coins were found in 1944.
What it led to
- the monetisation of Swahili coastal trade
- evidence of contacts across the Indian Ocean
- Kilwa's dynastic propaganda