Igbo Coiled Manilla Currency

Seventeen tight coils, one heavy rod, and a long way from a bank.

This manilla was made in copper by the Igbo peoples of Nigeria in the 20th century. Copper and brass forms like it served as currency across southeastern Nigeria, and coiled examples were also worn as arm and leg ornaments and kept as a store of wealth.

A single rod is wound into roughly seventeen spirals forming an open, gently curved cylinder. One end flattens into a spatulate terminal, the other into a rounded disc. Green verdigris covers the surface, with reddish-purple copper showing through on the coils. Eleven and a quarter inches long.

Wealth you could wear, and wind.