Akan Goldweights

Timeline

1. 701–1200Wangara–Ghana gold trade zone · Sudan beltThe Ghana Empire controlled the southern gold-producing regions and taxed northbound caravans; gold dust circulated in regional trade as a divisible high-value currency, merchants using balances and counterweights for weighing, providing a functional prototype for later standardized weight systems.
2. c. 1400–1700Akan region · GhanaAkan goldsmiths cast geometric brass weights by the lost-wax method, the weight system was regionally standardized, complete weight sets (including balance, spoon, and box) became symbols of a merchant's identity and credit, and the geometric patterns were influenced by North African Islamic metalwork.
3. c. 1600–1900Ashanti and Baule regions · GhanaCraftsmen cast figurative weights of people, animals, and scenes, carrying Akan proverbs and ethical ideas in visual form; goldweights transcended practical tools to become carriers of oral tradition and metal art, with an estimated several million surviving examples.