Imagine a payment whose object remains in exactly the same place. In Yap, in the Pacific, some rai stones are so heavy that their transfer of ownership does not require them to be transported. The community recognizes the change of ownership. The immobility of the disk does not mean that no transaction has taken place.
These round and pierced stones are used for important or ceremonial payments. They also represent accumulated wealth and a social position. The Smithsonian keeps several copies; one of the discs presented in its exhibition on the currency weighs about seventy-six kilograms. It was obviously not designed to accompany small purchases in a pocket.
Not all rai are immense, and this usage should not be extended to every current economic exchange of Yap. The surprising detail remains the principle of collective recognition. To understand this currency, looking only at the stone is insufficient: it is also necessary to know who recognizes its value and to whom it belongs.
What we know
Special payments; neither all rai nor all exchanges concerned.
To go to the source
References consulted on September 21, 2026. Linked pages may be in another language.
Signaler une erreur ou apporter une précision
