The people in Yap in the western Pacific believe a sea explorer named Anagumang made the first dangerous voyage by canoe to bring back a new limestone currency more than 2000 years ago.
They say pieces of stone money, some weighing several tonnes, have been in use ever since on their main island in the Federated States of Micronesia.
The limestone pieces, up to three metres in diameter, were quarried in Palau.
Holes made in the middle of each piece allowed poles to be used to carry them to small barges, which were then towed behind canoes back to Yap, about 220 kilometres away.
Today, most pieces stand in village ‘banks’, each with a well-known history. The most valuable are those acquired on expeditions in which lives were lost at sea. Less valuable are those brought from Palau with comparative ease last century on the boats of Western traders, in exchange for copra.
According to a count in 1929, there were more than 13,000 pieces of stone money on Yap. The actual number today is not known. Some were smashed and used as road fill to punish recalcitrant Yapese during Japanese colonial administration. Others have gone to display in Western museums.
The reduction in numbers has enhanced the value of the remaining pieces, and they are still used in occasional transactions, including for the purchase of brides and land – or as compensation for crimes of violence or passion.