Minneapolis Institute of Art

Currency

Igbo artist

Date

20th century

Medium

Copper

Culture

Igbo

Department

Arts of Global Africa

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

In the late 1400s, the Portuguese began trading with Igbo peoples in southeastern Nigeria—buying at first primarily ivory and pepper, and later also humans. The Portuguese bartered for goods with copper, which the Igbo accumulated and transformed over the centuries. The so-called bracelet currency seen here is a heritage of that tradition. Seventeen coils make up a metal spring, which has flat circles at its extremities. Some Igbo currencies have more or fewer coils, varying the amount of metal and thus the currency’s value. Africa

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