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The object - documented in the Jaenicke-Njoya Archive - belongs to the category of forged iron currency used among the Mumuye and neighbouring groups in northeastern Nigeria. These iron objects are typically elongated or abstractly shaped, forged by hand from wrought iron and often showing curved, twisted, or looped extensions. Their visual form reflects both metallurgical skill and a cultural aesthetic in which metalwork was not only functional but also socially meaningful.

In Mumuye society and adjacent regions of the Benue River basin, such iron pieces functioned as part of what is commonly described in scholarship as “primitive money,” although this term is now used critically. These objects did not operate as standardized coinage issued by a state authority, but rather as locally accepted value objects embedded in social and economic practices. They could be used in exchanges for goods, livestock, and services, but also played a major role in bridewealth transactions, compensation payments, and ceremonial exchanges. In many cases, their function extended beyond trade into the realm of social obligation and ritual economy.

Iron was a particularly significant material in West Africa because it was already central to agriculture and warfare. Transforming iron into shaped currency objects increased its symbolic value: instead of being merely a tool, it became a condensed form of wealth. The production of such objects required skilled smithing and considerable labor, which further reinforced their value. As ethnographic and historical studies show, iron currency in West Africa often circulated alongside other forms of value such as cowries, cloth, and copper alloys, forming a plural monetary landscape rather than a single unified system.

The concept of “primitive money” is used in economic anthropology to describe objects that function between barter systems and modern coin-based currency systems. These objects are typically standardized to a degree, but remain individually inspected and valued rather than serving purely as abstract symbols of account. In West African contexts, this meant that iron currency objects were both material wealth and social instruments, capable of being stored, displayed, exchanged, or inherited depending on context.

References
Einzig, Paul (1949): Primitive Money in Its Ethnological, Historical and Economic Aspects
Bohannan, Paul (1959): The Impact of Money on an African Subsistence Economy
Guyer, Jane I. (2004): Marginal Gains: Monetary Transactions in Atlantic Africa
Herbert, Eugenia W. (1993): Iron, Gender, and Power in West Africa
Herbert, Eugenia W. (1984): Red Gold of Africa: Copper in Precolonial History and Culture
Numista catalogue entry on West African iron currency forms (Tajere/Losol/Saka complex)


Black Iron - Fair condition

A iron sculpture - Mumuye - Nigeria  (No reserve price)

African & Tribal Art

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A iron sculpture - Mumuye - Nigeria (No reserve price)

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