Gold Weight Item Number: 3600/19 from the MOA: University of British Columbia
Fish gold weight. Small flat fish with indents on one side, and raised circles all over the body on the opposite side, and large spirals for eyes. The mouth is a small extension with a notch. The face is divided from the body by a pair of raised lines. Two small dorsal fins and a small pectoral fin are made of concentric lines, and the heart-shaped tail fin of contentric hearts.
Gold weights were historically made and used by the Akan peoples to weigh powdered gold ('gold dust'), which was used as the standard currency from the seventeenth to mid-nineteenth centuries. Locally referred to as abrammuo (singular mrammuo), they were usually made of a brass alloy and were based on the Islamic
weight
system. Each form had a known measurement, and those engaging in trade at that time would own a full set of weights. The pieces were cast using the lost-wax technique, ranging in form from simple geometric designs (thought to be the earliest forms) to figurative forms such as animals and humans, or items such as swords and Adinkra symbols.
Purchased by Peter Oberlander on his frequent trips to Africa, sometime between 1958-1990. Oberlander was teaching and consulting in Ghana, and consulting for the UN in Nigeria and Kenya.