Amazing strand of King Beads! These beads were manufactured in Italy during the early 19th century and sent to Africa for use as trade goods. Prior European explorers had noted that African chiefs -- or Kings -- valued a particular type of sand-cast bead called Bodum beads. Bodum beads were generally yellow with black cores and the European King Beads were made to look like these rare African beads. The imitations were a hit and European traders reported that Chiefs were often willing to trade gold for these beads, resulting in their also being known as traded-for-gold beads.

This is one of the nicest strand of King Beads we have ever come across. These black beads have yellow, red and green glass trail decorations and are in truly excellent condition. This is a really nice strand that measures 32 inches long, and each bead measures a little more than 20 mm in diameter.