Congolese Handa or Cross Currency

Crossed pair of stout arms, flecked with turquoise green like a mossy sundial.

This handa or cross currency is from Kasai, Katanga, Kasai River, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Africa, and dates to the late 19th or early 20th century. It is metal. Cross-shaped metal ingots, generally of copper, circulated as currency in the Katanga region, where copper ore has been mined and smelted for centuries. Hefty X-shaped piece with four widening arms. The face is crusted with brown, rust and blue-green deposits, and the ends are rounded and rough. A faint raised bar crosses the center. It is 8 inches wide and 7 deep.

Rough, rugged, and entirely happy to be an X.