Lobi Bronze Bracelet Currency

Pale, two-ribbed open ring with small nubs and a tightly hatched face.

This bracelet currency is Lobi, from Burkina Faso, West Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is bronze. Several forms of metal currency existed across Africa before coins, including rings, rods and blades, each valued by weight and by local custom. What shows is a broad, light-toned band with two parallel ridges around the outside and fine crosshatching covering the surface. The blocky terminals each have a small side nub. The color is a muted yellowish-olive with soft wear. It is 2.25 inches wide, 2.5 deep and 0.5 high.

Pale in tone, stubborn in pattern.