Watch List notes:

MICRONESIA: gau shell money, 77cm, shell necklace from Yap Island, 30" long string with whales tooth, graduated beads from 1/4" to 5/8" in diameter, a very old example, ex Charles Opitz Collection. There are four other types of currency on Yap Island. First there is "Mmbul" which is a length of lava-lava, the cloth used for loincloths, three or four feet long and two feet wide, wrapped up in a Betel nut sheath. Then there is "Gau" or "Gaw", a necklace of shells, up to 10 feet in length. The shells come from Canet, an island near Ponape, from Ponape itself and from Euripik. Since these come from a distance, Gau is worth more than Mmbul. "Yar" is money made of large shells about eight inches wide, pierced and tied on a coconut rope. Finally, "Reng" is the name of money made of turmeric, which is ground and mixed with water and the paste shaped into a ball, typically used for tribal ceremonies. Acording to Opitz, only 6 examples of 'gau' were left on Yap as of 1998.

Estimate: 500-700 USD