Kissi penny

Kissi penny, also kissy penny, kissi money, kissi penny, kisi penny; guenze, koli, kilindi and other names. The name for an iron currency made in the Kissi country of Sierra Leone that circulated widely in the immediate vicinity of its production among Gbandi (Bandi), Gola, Kissi, Kpelle, Loma, Mandinka and Mende and other people of Liberia and Sierra Leone and Guinea-Conakry.

Circulation

Thanks to the trading and nautical activities of the people of the region, especially the Kru kissi pennies circulated widely along the coast of West and Central Africa. Historical records do not note the use of this currency before the last years of the nineteenth century (c. 1880) and they continued in use as money until gradually replaced by colonial currencies, but as late as 1940 in Sierra Leone and even as late as the 1980s in Liberia.

Production

Kissi pennies were made by smiths in the form of long rods, with a "T" on one end, and a sort of blade, not unlike a hoe on the other end. They ranged in length from about 6 to as long as 16 inches. Because each one had relatively small value, they were often gathered into bundles (usually of 20). Prices complied in the early twentieth century, for example put the cost of a cow at 100 bundles, while brideprice might be 200 bundles, and slaves, while the domestic slave trade was still working might sell for 300 bundles.

Religious Use

Even after they were discontinued for use as currency, kissi pennies continued to be employed in the society of the region, for example, as tokens of completing rituals in the Poro and Sande Societies; as bridewealth, and also to be placed on tombs and graves, where they were believed to channel the souls of the dead. At some point, the currency acquired spiritual aspects, perhaps because of its use in graves, and as a result, when a penny broke it was considered without value until a Zoe, or religious practitioner, repaired it in a special ceremony. It was this feature that led to it being called "money with a soul."

European travelers regarded them as a curious form of "primitive money" and as a result many were collected and deposited in museums. They continue to be sold on art and curio markets, as well as among numismatists to the present day.

Bibliography

• Bunot, Raoul. "Une monnaie de l'AOF le guinze," Notes africaines 18 (1943): 2-3.

• Germann, Paul Die Volkesstämme in Norden von Liberia. Leipzig, 1933.

• Portieres, Roland. "La monnaie de fer dans l'ouest Africa au XX e siècle," Recherches africaines (Études guineénes), NS, 4 (1960): 3-13.