Watch List notes:

ETHNOGRAPHIC: MICRONESIA: Yap, rai stone money (566g), ca. 1871-1931, Opitz p.316 (plate example), 130 x 117 x 28mm (1.25 lb), made from crystalline calcite (aragonite per Opitz) and translucent under bright light, holed in the center and attached with plant fiber rope for carrying, a lovely and portable example of this famous ethnographic currency, VF, RR, ex Charles Opitz Collection. Known locally as rai or fei, the Yap stone money is a disc-shaped stone with a hole in the center for transportation, with sizes ranging from 12 feet to a mere 2 inches in diameter. The stone for making rai is not found on Yap itself and was instead sourced from Palau, located some 280 miles (450km) away. Before the arrival of European traders, a Yapese chief would grant permission to a work crew to sail to Palau, manufacture the money, and bring them back in their canoes. Due to the limited means of transportation, these stones were no larger than 4 feet. Bigger examples did not appear until the arrival of Western traders and their large ships in the late 19th century. Stone money was produced as late as 1931, and a contemporary survey found a total of 13,281 pieces on Yap. However, many were destroyed and used for road construction during WWII, and only half are estimated to have survived to the present day. Furthermore, it has been illegal to export them from Yap since 1965. Hence all examples of the stone money on the market are very rare and highly sought after. Due to their size and fragility, the larger stones are not physically exchanged in a transaction, and are simply displayed in public, often outside of one's house or on the side of a road. Instead, each stone has a unique oral history of ownership that is agreed on and widely known to the community. In fact, one stone, according to oral tradition, fell into the ocean during a storm just before it reached the island. But because everyone agreed that the stone is still there, it continued to be used just like any other stone money, long after anyone had seen it. This fascinating practice follows the same principle behind the blockchain technology used in cryptocurrency and foreshadows the cashless transactions that we take for granted every day. This particular piece was a deacquisition from the Money Museum of Detroit, acquired by the consignor in 1986.

Estimate: 1,500-2,000 USD