Aksumite currency was the first native currency to be issued in Africa without direct control by an outside culture like the Romans or Greeks (needs reference, both the Egyptians and Carthage had their own currency). It was issued and circulated from the middle of the height of the Kingdom of Aksum under King Endubis around AD 270 until it began its decline in the first half of the 7th century. No sub-Saharan state would mint coins after Aksum until the Kilwa Sultanate in the 10th century.
Aksum's currency served as a vessel of propaganda demonstrating the kingdom's wealth and promoting the national religion (first polytheistic and later Oriental Christianity), as well as facilitating the Red Sea trade on which it thrived. The coinage has also proved invaluable in providing a reliable chronology of Aksumite kings due to the lack of extensive archaeological work in the area.
Read more about Aksumite Currency: Pre-Christian Period, Value, Design, Trade, Decline, Archaeology
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