Yoruba Torque Currency with Top Appendage

A knob on top, two crossed tips below, and the look of something that means business.

This torque currency with top appendage is Yoruba, from Nigeria in West Africa, made of brass in the early 20th century. People in the region kept wealth in rings like this before coins and notes became the norm, using them for large payments and to show what a family owned. The smooth, dark brown hoop is slimmer than most, with a single ridge along its outer edge. A short flat-topped stub rises from the crown. At the base, the two ends pass small flat disks and cross each other in thin points. Thirteen inches wide and 16 high.

As purses go, it is mostly handle.