Geometric brass counterweights (“abrammoo”) used for weighing gold

Description:	The trade in gold across Africa’s Sahara desert, called the Trans-Saharan gold trade, dominated West African commerce from the 7th to the 14th centuries. In search of gold for coinage, Arabs from the Mediterranean made annual camel treks across the Sahara to trade salt and other goods in exchange for gold. Known as the Gold Coast, Africa’s Atlantic coast held many sources rich in gold, in both rivers and the ground. Located at the crossroads of the trans-Saharan trade routes, the Kingdom of Ghana (located in the southwestern region of modern-day Mali) dominated the trade in gold up until the 13th century. During the colonial era, gold merchants continued to trade with Europeans. The trading of gold was commonplace in everyday transactions between gold traders, chiefs, kings and merchants. Traders had a special system of weighing out gold. They used a brass pan scale which held gold dust or nuggets on one pan and brass counterweights or abrus seeds on the other to determine the weight of the gold. Brass, copper and bronze counterweights were created in many different shapes and forms, often symbolic of traditional Akan proverbs or stories. These geometric weights were made using the lost-wax casting process and used in Ghana ca. 1960.
Source:	http://www.digitalindy.org/cdm/ref/collection/tcm/id/747
Collection:	The Children's Museum of Indianapolis
Rights:	https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/;
Copyright:	Creative Commons (CC By-SA 3.0);
Geography:	Ghana
Subjects:	Scales (Weighing instruments) Weights and measures Ghana Gold Coast Akan (African people) Akan (African people)--Ghana--Social life and customs

Further information on this record can be found at its source.