Kissi Iron Penny Currency

Eleven and a quarter inches, and nearly all of it line. The Kissi penny at its most distilled.

Sierra Leone, 20th century, iron. In the Kissi region, rods like this were counted out in bundles for bridewealth and trade, and what they were worth rested as much on custom as on metal. The thin shaft is lightly twisted, with a gentle wave. A narrow flared fin ends one side. A rough, wing-shaped ear ends the other. Rust brown, with paler highlights along the twist.

Custom is the strongest alloy there is.