Scottishmoney Posted October 24, 2006 Report Share Posted October 24, 2006 Not really a coin persay, but more like money these were used in the Congo region of Africa from about the 14th century through the very early part of the 20th century. These were apparently cast from bronze in sand molds. Their shapes very a bit, from cruciform or cross, to more of an X shape, and there are even small examples which may have been for small change. In the early 20th century this piece would have purchased about 6 chickens or 20lbs of flour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drusus Posted October 24, 2006 Report Share Posted October 24, 2006 Cool! I saw a show about how they do sand casting, they were making small idols but I would think the process here is the same...interesting. Talking about big money, dont know if these have been posted here before but I know a guy who was from Micronesia (the island of Yap and some were from another island called Truk) and there they had very big money. I realized this because he had a shirt that showed a guy leaning up against a giant coin. They got the concept of money but they didnt make the step in the representational concept when it came to size thus he mosre it was worth, the larger the coin needed to be: try fitting those in your coin holder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccg Posted October 24, 2006 Report Share Posted October 24, 2006 Neat! I only own a little coin from Katanga that depicts one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Posted October 24, 2006 Report Share Posted October 24, 2006 Cool! I saw a show about how they do sand casting, they were making small idols but I would think the process here is the same...interesting. Talking about big money, dont know if these have been posted here before but I know a guy who was from Micronesia (the island of Yap and some were from another island called Truk) and there they had very big money. I realized this because he had a shirt that showed a guy leaning up against a giant coin. They got the concept of money but they didnt make the step in the representational concept when it came to size thus he mosre it was worth, the larger the coin needed to be: try fitting those in your coin holder Does Dansco make an album for those? Chuck Opitz who is one the best known authors of books about these types of money and actually has several Yap stones in his collection has visited our coin club almost yearly to give us presentations and updates on his travels and research on Traditional Monies. It's really neat stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
banivechi Posted October 25, 2006 Report Share Posted October 25, 2006 Past week I lost a bid for one small Katanga cross (about 3 grams), sold for 15 euro... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottishmoney Posted October 25, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2006 Even the big ones are usually only about $100 or so, I found this one on fleaBay last year for $23 or so. The postage was almost as much as the piece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.