Object Details
- Description
- Beads have served as a medium of exchange around the globe. Many different types of beads have been used in transactions on the continent of Africa including those made from glass, coral, shell, and stone. Aggrey beads are a type of bead that was used for jewelry as well as trade in West Africa, especially modern day Ghana and Nigeria. They are often blue in color and cylindrical in shape. Due to limited information about the origins of the beads in the National Numismatic Collection it is not possible to determine if this specific object was used as a medium of exchange, worn as jewelry, or produced as a replica.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Credit Line
- Raymond Hebert
- n.d.
- ID Number
- 1986.0804.01
- catalog number
- 1986.0804.01
- accession number
- 1986.0804
- Object Name
- Trade Beads
- alternative currency
- Other Terms
- Trade Beads; Africa; Western
- Physical Description
- mineral aggregate, glass aggry (overall material)
- beads (87) (overall material)
- cord (overall material)
- blue (overall color)
- red (overall color)
- yellow (overall color)
- black (overall color)
- green (overall color)
- painted, strung on cord (overall production method/technique)
- Measurements
- average spatial: 440 mm; x 17 5/16 in
- place made
- Africa
- See more items in
- Work and Industry: National Numismatic Collection
- West African Currency
- National Museum of American History
- Record ID
- nmah_1069016
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a9-188c-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
