Oshele or knife currency

Before paper money came to Africa, tribal currency took the form of hand-forged iron objects. They might appear to the casual observer like everyday items such as tools, weapons, or wearable adornment, but to the tribal people who used them they were carefully crafted items with prescribed values. Two of one form might buy a cow; two of another might buy a wife! Like modern money, value had more to do with perception than reality. Iron isn’t worth all that much; and neither is paper.

Although used as currency, Oshele appear as the sharp f-shaped throwing knives of the same name

This week’s New Arrival features a form of currency created by the Nkutshu people in the heart of Africa. Called an Oshele, it appears as a fearsome f-shaped throwing knife of the same name. Only people of the highest status and rank could carry this currency. It had the greatest value of any medium of exchange used by the Nkutshu; but that was before paper money arrived. Today, the Oshele is still considered a valuable object, except now it is coveted by collectors and only exchanged for paper. Oh, the IRONy!  

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