Africa. Congo, Kenya & French Cameroon. Elephant Tail Hair Money, ND (ca. 19th Century).Tail approximately 20 in length, bundle of strands of varying lengths and bracelet approximately 5 inches in diameter. Opitz-pg. 139/40. 3 pieces in lot. <strong>Each piece in lot with early provenance such as lot tags and old collectors ticket</strong>. Lot includes a full tail, a bracelet and a bundle of individual hairs. The full tail is <strong>EXTREMELY RARE</strong> and extremely difficult to obtain. The whole tail as well as the individual hairs from the tail were used as money. At one point 600-700 strands were worth one slave and later one full tail was worth 2-3 slaves. It was also believed that the hairs prevented disease. In Durant Lopys book "Kingdom of Congo" published 1880, he described how natives would drive elephants down narrow trails as it was difficult for them to turn around. The natives would sneak up behind the elephants, cut off their tails and run away before the elephant could turn around. The bracelet was sent to Mrs. H. H. Quiggin from Kenya and has a bead on it. A very interesting group sure to excite even the most advance collector of primitive monies.
