Kissi Iron Penny Currency

Look at the blade. Wing-shaped, hammered flat, at one end of an iron rod.

Kissi pennies circulated among the Kissi and their neighbors in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, used in everyday exchange and in bridewealth. This one, forged in the 20th century, is a slender twisted rod just over eighteen inches long. The other end finishes in a small flattened tab. The iron is rust brown, uneven and pitted, with the marks of the forge still in it.

Spare and linear, with the graphic quality of a good signature.