Kissi Iron Penny Currency

A gently waving rod, rusty brown, with a squat head and a crisp winged tip.

This iron penny currency is Kissi, from Sierra Leone, West Africa, and dates to the 20th century. Iron was valuable in West Africa for making tools and weapons, so objects of iron could stand in for goods of known worth in many kinds of payment. Long, narrow bar with a slow wave to the shaft and a faint twist in the middle. A small flattened head sits at left, and the opposite end spreads into an upturned, notched wing with a coarse, dry surface. It is 3 inches wide and 20 high.

Slim, a little wobbly, and entirely devoted to its odd silhouette.