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Tiny island nation trades with giant stone money

Việt NamViệt Nam26/02/2024

Yap Island in Micronesia is where people still use stone coins weighing up to 5 tons for special transactions.

Yap, locally known as Wa'ab, in the Caroline Islands in the Western Pacific , is famous for its stone coins. These coins are called "rai" (whale in the local language) because of their original whale-like shape.

A typical rai coin has a diameter of 7-360 cm, weighs up to 5 tons, and has a hole in the middle to insert a pole. Then, men will carry the coin together to transport it to the place of transaction. Rai coins have been found to be up to 2,000 years old. Initially, rai coins were small in size but gradually became larger thanks to the development of techniques and tools.

Tiny island nation trades with giant stone money
A rai coin is placed on the island. Photo: Unbelievable Facts

The value of rai is determined by many factors, such as size and carving. However, the history of each coin is what really determines its value. Rai are made from limestone, a type of stone that is not found on Yap Island, and people have to travel long and difficult distances to remote islands to find them. Most of the limestone is mined by the Yap people on the island of Palau, 400 km to the southwest.

During this journey, they had to face many dangers from wild animals to warlike native peoples. Therefore, the value of the coin was also calculated based on the difficulty of making it, how many people sacrificed.

Due to the large size and weight of rai coins, it is difficult to pass them around during transactions. Therefore, the common form of ownership on the island is word of mouth. Everyone is aware of who the coins belong to, so theft is almost non-existent. There are currently about 6,500 rai coins scattered across the islands.

By the 20th century, the Yap people had replaced the rai with the US dollar. However, in some special transactions such as political agreements and dowries, the rai was still used.

Micronesia has a total land area of 702 km2, of which Guam is the largest island, famous for its beautiful coastline and duty-free shopping paradise. The islands in other states have many beautiful landscapes, attracting tourists , although the infrastructure is not yet developed.

According to vnexpress.net


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