When someone says "Primitive Money" what do you think of? Cowrie Shells, Tobacco, Tools, Weapons, Chinese Syche, Knife and Spade Money, African Spear Money or Aztec Hoe Money? Something before Ancient? Well, you are about to be introduced to a "Primitive Money" that came into being during the late 1800s in tribal Africa and remained in use right up to 1964 in the modern nation of Liberia. When this "Primitive Money" circulated at its zenith, it was in use in the regions now known as Sierra Leone and Guinea. It is believed the Kissi Tribe invented this "Primitive Money." Therefore it is referred to as the Kissi Penny, but found use by the Bandi, Gbandia, Gola, Kpelle, Loma, Mandingo and Mende Tribes. An unusual characteristic of this Kissi Penny is the belief by all members of the tribes mentioned above that each Kissi Penny has a soul. Since it was endowed by its minter with the sanctity of a soul, if one broke, it could no longer circulate and had no value. However its soul could be restored by the Zoe (traditional witch doctor). For a fee, the Zoe would perform a ceremony, rejoin the pieces with the aid of a few blacksmith tools, and reincarnate the escaped soul. As you look at the photo (courtesy of Pom Export ) imagine it being in different lengths from 9 inches to 15 inches. Also, besides single units, imagine them bundled together by cotton or rawhide strips in quantities of 5, 10, 20, 50 or even more. Here's a photo: http://www.pomexport.com/C%20-20Africa_KissiTwists/PCC-Africa_KissieTwists.jpg After being replaced by Western currencies, the use of Kissi Money became virtually limited to ritual ceremonies such as on the occasion of the return of young men and women from the bush schools (Poro and Sande schools) or for sacrifices and divination ceremonies. It also serves for making protective fetishes and to decorate the graves of old warriors. Still many people still believe the old money possesses magical powers. Hence, according to many tribal Liberians, the Kissi Money still is "money with a soul." To give you an idea of the Kissi Penny's worth, during the early 1900s you'd need 1,000 to buy a bull, 1,500 for a wife and 5,000 to purchase a hard working slave. Hope you enjoyed... Clinker
The link to your pic is not working. Not sure just what you were showing, but this may be part of it.
Great post. I can vouch that those were used for real. Many families still have many of these - I guess it's much like our parents/grandparents and those Morgan/Peace dollars! I had a friend who worked in Guinea by the Sierra Leone border and he received a bunch of them as gifts when he finally left. I visited several times, but didn't really think to pick any up. I was more into the masks and statues.
I'm so grateful for everypne's comments. I couldn't figure out how to turn the emoticon image off and prayed it wou;d not interfere with the article... Amy suggestions for the future? Clinker
Clinker you have written so much about so much that I am not sure there is much left for the future ! Couldn't figure out how to get much in there more than 3 times
I had read somewhere that if these pieces were broken, you would have to take them to some "miracle worker" to restore their souls, ie weld them back together. Sometime I would like to find one of these, but they are so large that they are not convenient material to collect. I have a Katanga cross that I got on the cheap on eBay a couple of years ago: Some of the African monies are indeed very fascinating. Unfortunately there is not a lot of documentation as to how they were used in commerce, who made them etc. because the Europeans really wanted these so called primitive monies to go away and be replaced by their colonial coinage etc.
That is unfortunate, after reading the post I tried looking for some and found this page http://www.hamillgallery.com/CURRENCY/CurrencyExhibition.html the fang blade currency is sweet
Clinker, are you saving all your posts like these? I think it would be cool if you made a website with them all.
To randygeki Ihaveb;t saved any. They were only posted here to share with Coin Chat members. Past posts are in Coin Chat's Archives and can be accessed there. Clinker, your Coin Chat Friend
