Twenty antique geometric gold weights

TWENTY ANTIQUE GEOMETRIC GOLD WEIGHTS. Original, unique, special, antique, good patina, detailed. AKAN ASHANTI ASANTE bronze geometric gold weights, well used tribally. From Ghana, Gold Coast, Ivory Coast, West Africa. Total weight is 288 grams. The first, top five weights, see the first photos, weigh: 72.0 grams, a KING WEIGHT, ram’s horn design, 60.1 grams, also a ram’s horn design, silver-colored bronze, 34.5 grams, with three broad and two narrow bars, 14.7 grams, fine and rare triangle with stripes, 12.7 grams, cross, Crux Decussata, see sheet under photos, further in this lot also a star with eight arms, two pyramids, a small weight from the 16th century, Islamic design with engravings, rare, also a swastika or sun symbol weight. Some weights have symbolic meaning. See last photos with sheet explanations. Made with the lost-wax casting method, lost wax method. Sometimes with visible remnants of the gate channel. Various colors of African bronze. Wear and signs of use in accordance with tribal use for weighing gold and gold dust, and in trade. With lead counterweights, and weight reduction. Evidence that these weights were tribally well used in barter. See photos, which are part of the description. Used as counterweights for small scales or balances. Weights from the 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, thus long before 1900, when the use of gold weights as currency and means of payment was banned and replaced by coinage. Not tourist junk from the 20th century. For size assessment: compare with coins. Carefully packed and insured with track and trace via PostNL. Can also be collected in Leiden, Netherlands."

Estimate:£126.47

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