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MICRONESIA: Yap, rai stone money (95.67g), ca. 1871-1931, VF-EF

Currency:USD Category:Antiques / Ethnographic Start Price:260.00 USD Estimated At:300.00 - 400.00 USD
MICRONESIA: Yap, rai stone money (95.67g), ca. 1871-1931, VF-EF
SOLD
1,800.00USD+ (360.00) buyer's premium + applicable fees & taxes.
This item SOLD at 2022 Sep 16 @ 19:35UTC-7 : PDT/MST
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MICRONESIA: Yap, rai stone money (95.67g), ca. 1871-1931, Opitz p.317 (plate example), 88 x 68 x 9mm, made from crystalline calcite and translucent under bright light, holed in the center for carrying, the smallest example of this famous ethnographic currency we have ever encountered! VF-EF, 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.