Lobi Snake-Form Currency, Based

Iron, patient as a snake. It coils up and up, and then stops.

The Lobi of Burkina Faso forged this snake-form currency in the 20th century. Among the Lobi and their neighbors, forged iron forms were exchanged as currency, and the snake is a recurring image in their metalwork. A single rod twists upward in loose coils, narrowing toward a small knob and finishing in a curl at the base.

The surface is dark, with a soft sheen and slight variation from the forge. A square plate holds it just over three feet tall. Stand it on the floor. The shadow does the slithering.