Akan Ashanti goldweight, brass fish - collectible from Ivory Coast -SALE

Description

This is a beautiful piece of history. Very detailed fish used for weighing gold dust from Africa.
Akan goldweights
, (locally known as
mrammou
), are weights made of brass used as a measuring system by the
Akan people
of
West Africa
, particularly for weighing gold dust which was
currency
until replaced by paper money and coins.
Used to weigh gold and merchandise, at first glance the goldweights look like miniature models of everyday objects. Based on the
Islamic
weight system, each weight had a known measurement. This provided merchants with secure and fair-trade arrangements with one another. The status of a man increased significantly if he owned a complete set of weights. Complete small sets of weights were gifts to newly wedded men. This insured that he would be able to enter the merchant trade respectably and successfully.