Mbuti Spear-Form Currency

Fifteen and a half inches of iron, shaped like a spearhead and meant for the marriage market.

Throughout Central Africa, iron objects shaped like blades and spearheads circulated as currency and were exchanged in bridewealth and other important transactions. This one was forged by the Mbuti of the Democratic Republic of Congo in the 20th century. A small leaf-shaped blade at one end, a faint ridge along it. A long slender shaft narrows to a fine point at the other. Dark, rust-brown, with the small irregularities of hand forging.

The elegance of a drawn line, and the manners of a handshake.