Tribal Art

Angas Currency (N° 21247)

These primitive large hoe-shaped coins were used for offerings, wedding dowries, and of course for major festive and ceremonial occasions. The Angas tribes of the Jos Plateau in northern Nigeria offered such objects as dowries to the father of the bride-to-be. These coins also had a ceremonial function during the celebration of the union. Some people, however, attribute these specially shaped coins to the Afos, a neighboring tribe settled below the Jos plateau. The Afos speak a Benue-Congolese language: Eyoli. Two parts stand out, a narrow handle and the lower part of rectangular shape known as the shovel shape which is also found among the Mambilas.
The oxidation of the iron offers an inimitable patina.