Akan gold

Akan gold an African people at the heart of world trade
15^th – 19^th centuries

The Akan people lived mainly in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire; they traded using gold dust and developed a particularly original system of weighing the dust using weights with remarkable aesthetic qualities.

For over 600 years, the Akan developed a brilliant civilisation. They were the leading producers of gold, they ruled the coast and the inland areas, they showed great commercial skill trading in a world market during the Pre-Industrial era.
The exhibition presents 500 weights and many documents, revealing the originality and wealth of this golden civilisation and its relations with Europeans over four centuries.