Kissi Iron Penny Currency

The paddle is missing. The rest of it is nearly seventeen inches of argument.

Forged in Sierra Leone in the 20th century, this Kissi penny is a long slender iron rod. The Kissi and neighboring peoples used such rods as currency in daily exchange and for social payments like bride wealth. One end flares into a broad crossbar with a pointed tip. The shaft is twisted and lumpy, gradually thinning to a long fine point where the expected paddle would be. Rough, rusty brown, with flaking and pitting.

A currency that went its own way. Rust has done the rest.