( Very Rare ) -Katanga Cross Currency

( Very Rare ) -Katanga Cross Currency

A Katanga Cross, also called handa, is cast copper cross, of varying sizes but typically about 20 cm (8 inches) across, and weighing about 1 kilogram (2 pounds). They were used as a form of currency in parts of what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the 19th and early 20th Centuries. Their name derives from Katanga, a rich copper mining region in the south-eastern portion of the country.

These X-shaped ingots were cast by local coppersmiths. They were cast by pouring molten copper into sand molds

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A Katanga Cross would buy about 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of flour, five or six chickens or six axes. Two would buy a gun.

In 1961, Katanga (which had declared its independence from The Congo) issued its own coins. As a homage to its heritage, the coins depicted the Katanga Cross. (Katanga was forcibly reunited with The Congo in 1963.)