Primitive money "Kissi-Penny" · Sierra Leone, Kissi · ID: 3042168
not available anymore
Provenance
Jens Jahn, Munich, GermanySize
L: ca. 43 cm
L: ca. 16.9 inch
Description
seven pieces, iron, traces of corrosion, base;
first used in 1900; until the 1920s they were the only money in the area. In 1918, 30 or 40 bundles of 20 pieces each would buy a cow, and 60 or 80 bundles would buy a wife. As late as 1915, 100 or 200 bundles would buy a slave.
Comparing literature
Opitz, Charles J., An Ethnographic Study of Traditional Money, Ocala, Florida 2000, p. 179 f.
Publications
AHDRC: 0142067