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NIGERIA: iron spear (6601g), VF

Currency:USD Category:Antiques / Ethnographic Start Price:70.00 USD Estimated At:80.00 - 120.00 USD
NIGERIA: iron spear (6601g), VF
SOLD
350.00USD+ (70.00) buyer's premium + applicable fees & taxes.
This item SOLD at 2022 Sep 17 @ 16:37UTC-7 : PDT/MST
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NIGERIA: iron spear (6601g), Opitz (2011) p.528 (plate example), Ballarini p.170, 174cm, comprising a solid iron pole mounted with a crown of six wedge-shaped hoes, used by the Vere people of Nigeria and Cameroon, VF, ex Charles Opitz Collection. Opitz divides African metal currencies into 3 rough categories based on their utility. The first category includes objects where the distinction between their use as tools and use as money is minor. The second category includes those that retain their original shape, but are made of a finer, perhaps less practical material. Objects in the last category have completely lost their shape as practical tools and instead have a standardized weight and size, and are therefore strictly a currency. As metal was a scarce commodity in Africa before the 20th century, all three categories were considered extremely valuable and widely used in exchanges.Visit www.traditionalmoney.com for a downloadable copy of Odd & Curious and Traditional Money (Opitz, 2011).