By Kent Ponterio, Senior Numismatist and Consignment Director, World and Ancient Coins and Todd McKenna, Numismatist
Yap Island produced the world’s largest and heaviest coinage, most commonly referred to as "Fei" or "Rai" and considered sacred amongst the local people. What essentially amounts to a donut made from a hard calcite known as aragonite was used in the payment of debts, tribute to chiefs, payment for support during times of war and even the ransoming of the bodies of fallen warriors. Often called the key or “Holy Grail” to a primitive/curious money collection, they are difficult to obtain as since 1965 it has been illegal to take the stones off the island. The production of these stones has been occurring since at least the early 1800s and was a truly primitive craft employing almost no metal tools or any kind of explosives to quarry the pieces. This feat of primitive engineering is made even more remarkable when one considers that there is no large source of stone on Yap. The stones were quarried and shaped on the island of Malakal in Palau, then shipped back to Yap on native boats, a trip of almost 250 miles one way! Some of the larger stones took as long as two years to quarry and shape using axes made from giant clams. The trip from Malakal to Yap via boat was a hazardous voyage that claimed many lives. Often the value placed on a stone directly related to the number of human lives lost in order to quarry it and deliver to Yap.
The largest examples are in excess of 12 feet in diameter, weighing about two tons and were not produced until after the introduction of foreign trade ships. Due to their excessive size the larger stones often traded ownership without physically being moved. The larger stones would remain in place as it became common knowledge among the inhabitants that it now belonged to a new owner. Although there are many sizes and shapes of Yap stones, they can be classified into two basic types, pre and post O'Keefe. The earliest stones were produced by the locals using axe heads made from segments of the giant clam and are generally more porous and irregularly shaped. Later stones or "O'Keefe stones" were produced in the late 1800s using metal tools and have smoother planes and are more perfectly circular. David O'Keefe was an American of Irish heritage who came to Yap with tools and a junk boat acquired in Hong Kong which he used to quarry and transport "Fei" from Malakal to Yap. Through this process he set himself up as the King of Yap Island. The 1954 motion picture "His Majesty O'Keefe" starring Burt Lancaster, although somewhat dramatized, fairly accurately portrays this series of events.
In Stack’s Bowers and Ponterio’s upcoming November sale at the Whitman Coin and Collectible Expo in Baltimore we will be presenting a collection of odd and curious money which includes not one, not two, but three Yap Island stones. The trio consists of one pre-O’Keefe specimen which weighs nearly fifty pounds and two smaller post-O’Keefe pieces being six inches or less in diameter. The older native-made stone is an attractive milky white with an oblong shape and rough porous surfaces attesting to its manufacture with primitive tools. The smaller pieces are of course much more uniform in shape, thickness and smoothness and are of a more honey colored calcite. The large stone is exciting for its age and size but I find the inclusion of the two smaller pieces to be a great opportunity for odd and curious money collectors on a budget to snag one of these rare gems. The stones will be available for viewing both at our California office, our New York City office and at the show in Baltimore prior to the sale and should not be missed.
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