TERA Gallery - African Art and Antiquities

"Altering The Way You View The World Of Art"
Type of Object:     
    Katanga "Cross" Currency
    18 c. - 1920s

    The Katanga Cross is a primitive form of  money, named after a
    region in Africa along the Kasai River in Zaire . They were made
    from heavy copper and have been manufactured by the indigenous
    tribes for hundreds of years.

    The crosses were used to buy goods  when barter was not
    possible. They were often used to purchase wives or  slaves.  A
    single cross might buy 6 axes, but their principal use as currency
    was in making payment of the "bride-price" or dowry - hence they
    are sometimes called "wife-buying" crosses.  One cross was worth
    ten kilos of flour, five fowls, three kilos of rubber or six axes. A bride
    price consisted of fourteen large crosses, one she-goat, one gun
    and one female slave. Seven crosses would purchase a slave. The
    large "coins" are known  locally as "lunkana".

    Katanga is a rich copper mining region is the south-eastern portion
    of Zaire. The crosses were cast by native coppersmiths. The
    Katanga region declared its independence from The Congo (now
    Zaire) shortly after Belgium granted the region its independence in
    1960.  While archaeologists believe that even unrefined lumps of
    copper were used as currency because of their standard size and
    value, the copper currency that possessed refined casting
    techniques and artistic value were the ingots shaped as crosses.
    By 1400 A.D. two distinctive types had developed. One was
    shaped like an H; the other was formed like an X. The crosses were
    cast directly on the ground in many sizes. The typical size was
    about nine and a half inches across, with weights varying up to four
    pounds. Archaeologists also believe that the larger crosses were
    made first, followed by the smaller ones as the demands of
    commerce rose. The crosses were accepted as trade items
    throughout central Africa. They also served as a source of copper
    for re-use in jewelry as well as for other currency.  

    For centuries these crosses served as indications of wealth and
    were used as bridewealth payments, trade, and currency. And,
    since they have been found in burials, they have also been
    associated with ritualization. Large crosses were convenient for
    stacking in royal treasuries and for transporting to areas of heavy
    demand. The Congolese regarded the non-ferrous metals --
    copper, lead, and tin -- as very precious materials. Metals were a
    widespread means of exchange and important in settling social
    contracts, such as marriage..

Ethnic Group:        
    Katanga Society     
Country of Origin:         
    Congo
Material:                       
    Copper

Deminsions:
    9" x 7.5"
Reference:                  
    Quiggin, Alison Hingston.  A SURVEY OF PRIMITIVE
    MONEY: THE BEGINNINGS OF CURRENCY. Reprint.
    London: Spink & Son, 1978. p103,plate1

    Opitz, Charles J. ODD AND CURIOUS MONEY:
    DESCRIPTIONS AND VALUES. Second Edition. Ocala, FL:
    First Impressions Printing, 1991.
    p38

    Roberto Ballarini, Armi Bianche Dell'Africa Nera (Black
    Africa's Traditional Arms), Africa Curio, Milano 1992.Pgs 128
    p118#77