Rai stones

Rai, also called stone money, is one on the island of Ulithi in Yap, a state of the Federated States of Micronesia, a medium of exchange used and is still considered as a payment method, although the production was discontinued in 1931. It consists of stone disks that are everywhere on the islands at the roadside or at the houses. If Rai changes hands, the new owner lets the stone usually due to the weight and thus the resulting difficulties of transportation where it is. Who which stone belongs is easily noticed.

Quality / production

The stones can range from palm size to 4 feet in diameter and have weigh over five tons. They preferably consist of the minerals aragonite and calcite, but which do not occur on the island. Thus, the stones of Palau, located about 400 kilometers southwest of Yap, had to be procured. This distance was overcome with outrigger boats in a five-day trip. By stones, a hole was beaten, so you can transport the stones to the sea with the help of rods. Here they were loaded on bamboo rafts or canoes. Particularly large stones were placed in the sea and the raft built around it. In a Japanese census in 1929 13.281 pieces of stone money were documented, of which approximately half survive today.

Use

The stone money was used exclusively by men. Today the money is used only rarely, mainly in symbolic stores. Approximately when land 'sold' is, change only the rights to use, because land on Yap has no owner. Where the rock remains unmoved in the rule and only on change of ownership. The ownership of the disks are known to the resident village elders, so that a theft is out of the question.

History

The arduous production and the long transport from Palau to Yap limited the number and size of the stones and increased their value. With them, among other things, land could be acquired.

In recent centuries, there was an inflation in the stone money than the transport of the stones was safe and cheap. The turning point was the company was founded in 1875 by David Dean O'Keefe. He founded trading posts, where he traded copra against a crossing to Palau. The copra he sold on to Hong Kong and he deserved until his death in 1901 about half a million dollars. Since then there has to Yap huge stones with little prestige and the material value of the stone money is no longer available.

The story of O'Keefe was filmed in 1954 with the title " His Majesty O'Keefe ". Burt Lancaster played as Capt.. David O'Keefe, the main role.

Tradition

The stone money must - according to tradition - always standing on the edge (that is similar to trees, houses, etc.) are kept. It is considered a serious offense and is illegal on Yap, to sit on the stone disks, or to provide (for example, as a picnic table ) to divert this otherwise. Tourists can therefore be sentenced to fines (which have to paid in dollar bills to the Treasury ), added the glares of the locals.

Value creation

The value resulting from various factors such as:

• Size
• Natural Beauty
• Form
• History of the "coin"
• Age
• How difficult was it to make it
• Someone came during transport in danger or loss of life
• Social status of the parties