Early 20th Century Mambila Iron Currency Shovel or Hoe Nigeria

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The wonderful variety of metal objects found in Africa is essentially a function of the need to trade and store … Read more The wonderful variety of metal objects found in Africa is essentially a function of the need to trade and store wealth not as one might assume, for weapons. These carefully-forged pieces were used for large, though infrequent, purchases of land or animals, and the transfer of wealth at major events such as births and initiations. The most commonplace use of iron and other metal objects was as "brideprice," the compensation of a family for the loss of a daughter to marriage. Most of these "currencies" were developed alongside traditional metal objects such as blades, tools, bracelets, and anklets. While some pieces continued to be used for work or decorative purposes, most evolved into "pure" money, unusable except as objects recognized, prized, and accepted widely as payment. This rare iron-forged money is from the Mambila, an ethnic group from Cameroon, very famous money used in local transactions. The Mambila had to trade this kind of iron currency from the Kwadja, a blacksmithing group, according to Marc Ginzberg, 2000, p.192.
Later on, colonialism put new Western currencies on the market and ended the use of local currencies, which resulted in the scattered nature of the iron currencies such as this.







Height (In) 6.0Width (In) 13.0Depth (In) 10.0







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