West African Gold Dust Currency

Timeline

1. c. 800–950Bure goldfields · MaliNatural gold particles were obtained from alluvial and lode deposits in southern mining areas, washed and ground into fine powder, then sealed in small leather pouches; the Ghana royal house prohibited the export of whole gold ingots to maintain monopoly control over trade.
2. c. 950–1040Walata · MauritaniaMuslim merchants at trading stations used the mithqal as a standard weight unit, weighing gold dust on precision balances to complete transactions; a system of weights circulated widely among trans-Saharan merchants, reducing disputes over measurement.
3. 1041–1050Kumbi Saleh · MauritaniaIn the 1040s the market at Kumbi Saleh settled bulk trade daily in gold dust, the Ghana king levied a fixed tax rate on each unit of exported gold dust, and North African merchants carried gold dust to Fez and Cairo where it was minted into gold coins entering the Mediterranean currency sphere.
4. c. 1250–1400Timbuktu · MaliDuring the Mali Empire gold dust remained the principal means of payment; Mansa Musa carried large quantities of gold dust to distribute as alms on his pilgrimage to Mecca, and the markets of Timbuktu operated a triangular exchange system of gold dust, salt, and cloth, with the weighed-currency tradition continuing for centuries.