Congolese Bronze Bracelet Currency, Based

A ring that was money. Nineteenth century, the Republic of Congo, and a thick bronze crescent that once passed from hand to hand.

Across Central Africa, cast metal rings like this stored wealth and settled accounts. They turned up in bridewealth and other weighty transactions, and they were worn as a sign of standing. This one is an open crescent with blunt, slightly flared ends. The surface is earthy brown, ridged and pitted, with traces of encrustation. Weathered deeply, by burial or by use.

It stands about eleven inches tall on a slender black stand. Small enough for a shelf. Heavy enough to make you reconsider what a bank looks like.