Mbuti Spear-Form Currency

Value, in much of Central Africa, lay in two things: the metal itself and the smith’s labor. Shape the iron into a blade or spear point and you had currency, good in trade and at marriages.

This spear-form piece of forged iron is attributed to the Mbuti peoples of the Democratic Republic of Congo. At nearly seventeen inches, it has a pointed, leaf-shaped blade with a faint central ridge. Then comes a distinctive double bend in the shaft, before it runs straight to a flattened, squared end. The patina is an even rust brown over a lightly pitted surface.

Hang it on a wall. It has the bearing for it.