Kissi Iron Penny Currency

Twisted for the first half and flattened for the second, as if bored halfway through.

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. A rust-dark rod with a small rounded head at left and a pronounced spiral stretch before it flattens and widens. The right end flares sharply upward, and the whole piece looks rough and granular. It is 0.25 inches wide and 19.5 high.

Half twisted, half flat, and wholly committed to the shape.