Lot 3953

Description

Micronesia, Caroline Islands, Yap Island, stone-money as Yap-money, as a circular wheel or mill-stone, called 'fae', c.115 mms, 360 grams, (p.144-5 Quiggin, Plate 12). Very fine and scarce.

These are made from a type of limestone (aragonite) and vary in size from a few inches to 12 feet across. The stone is found on Babelthuap and other islands in the Pelews some 400 miles away, and the quarried stones are ferried across on rafts to form the Yap currency. Each stone has a hole in the centre so that it can be carried on a pole. A stone about 70cms in diameter would buy a good-sized pig or 1000 cocunuts.