Col Davidson Collection Part 1

The Primitive Money Collection of Col Davidson
Part 1
Orange, NSW,
Australia
st
1 June 2017
Email coldavidson@aapt.net.au
Hi All,
My name is Col Davidson and I have been collecting Primitive Moneys for over fifty years.
In 1974 I became member #29 of Neil Kent Beckers International, Odd & Curious Money
Club (IPOCMC) which later changed its name to the International Primitive Money Club.
During the period 1978-1979 I took over as Acting President and Editor of the Club and
edited and issued eight Journals.
When Neil was able to resume the Presidency I started up the Australian based Traditional
Money Association (TMA) which had as its main aims the promotion of the study and
collecting of primitive moneys. This club lapsed in 1998 due to family commitments but,
during the period 1980 to 1998, twenty six Journals of the TMA were issued. Although a fairly amateurish
operation the information and stories in these journals were, in many cases, written by experts or knowledgeable
collectors and contain much important information. These journals can be read for free at the link:
https://independent.academia.edu/ColDavidson
Primitive and Money Substitutes.

Money is something that we take for granted but have difficulty in defining exactly. A simple description could be
that money is something in which payments can be made, is used as a store of value and is a measure of worth.
Many of the items in my collection have many other attributes. Some contain spirits or can be used to commune
with the dead, others are required in the ceremonies relating to birth, death and marriage. They are gifts to the
gods and show a mans status in society. They are necessities of life and many have wonderful stories.
Here I am listing and illustrating the items in my collection. This listing is not meant to take the place of a book on
the subject. For books you can get the marvellous books by Quiggins, Opitz and others this listing is set out
simply to show photographs of some items of money substitutes many illustrations of which are often hard to
find. Some items show little information; the reason for which is usually either that I dont have much
information or felt that applicable information is easily found on the Internet. HOWEVER some items do show
reasonable information - some details of which are not generally known. The listing is set up in searchable PDF
format (if you dont have one on your computer, free PDF readers are available on the Internet). Information on
how to search is also explained on the Internet . The usual method that I use is first to change the screen view
View/Page Display/Single/Single Page View and View/Zoom/Fit Height. To search I right click in the PDF, click on
Find, enter the criteria (axe, knife, Massim, Rossel Island, etc), open Full Reader Search and then
check out the listing.
Not all items shown are primitive moneys. Some are ancillary to a money item others are simply things that I
liked and collected.
I am still a keen collector and am always trying to learn more on the subject. I hope that you can get some useful
information or enjoyment from my listing.
All the best to you and yours,

Col
Page 1 Monday, 1 May 2017
C No: C.0001 Acq Date: 6501
Country: SIAM
District: MEKONG DELTA
Village:
Description.: INGOT BOAT MONEY BRONZE
Description: This is a bronze ingot called Lat Hoi

- often termed boat or canoe money because of
their shape.
Made in the old kingdom of Lan Chang in the
Mekong Delta region (now Laos and Thailand)
and used as a true coinage and money of
commerce (also used as symbolic offerings to
the spirits). Larger ones are 18th century -
smaller ones were probably made until about
1889 when the French Protectorate came into
being..
No Picture 2
Country: SOLOMON ISLANDS
District: SANTA CRUZ
Village:
Description.: FEATHER PLATELET
Description: Platelets from the famous feather

rolls of the area.
No Picture 2
Country: JAPAN
District:
Village:
Description.: Coin Rectangular Silver Ichibu Gin

Meiji Period 1859-68
Description: Coin Rectangular Silver Ichibu Gin
Meiji Period 1859-68
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: Cowrie Imitation - Ant Coin
Description: Cowrie Imitation - Ant Coin

The reading of this is uncertain but might be
"GE LIU ZHU" (ZHU being the modern form of
SHU) which would mean something like "each
six shu". This makes sense although only the
heaviest examples weight the 3.0 grams that
one would expect of a 6 shu coin.
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: Cowrie Imitation - Ghost Head
Description: Cowrie Imitation - Ghost Head.

While the inscription on this coin is uncertain,
the most common interpretation is Bei, or shell,
which could be a transition from the original
cowrie shell to bronze.
No Picture 2
Country: MALDIVES
District:
Village:
Description.: LARIN SILVER FISHHOOK MONEY
Description: Used as a true money or coin in

the priod 1500-1700AD
No Picture 2
Country: LIBERIA
District:
Village:
Description.: IRON ROD KISSI PENNY (2)
Description: 18-19th c., iron "kissie penny," an

elongated & attentuated "hoe" with a "T"
shaped "handle" & flat rudimentary "blade,"
shaft is twisted, Believed to contain a soul -
when broken, the soul escapes, and must be
returned by a Witch Doctor..
No Picture 2
Country: CAMEROON - LAKE CHAD
District: Kirdi and Matakan Mountain Areas
Village:
Description.: RING SMALL BRASS
Description: Ex Paul Dillingham, USA
The price of a donkey ride at the time Paul

Dillingham collected it.
No Picture 2
Country: CONGO
District:
Village:
Description.: BEADS BRASS (4)
A monetary wearable.
Valued items for wearing but valued in trade.
No Picture 2
Country: LIBERIA
District:
Village:
Description.: RING IVORY (ELEPHANT TUSK)
Ivory is an extremely high value monetary item

throughout Africa and is mentioned by Quiggin
on numerous occasions (see pages 98 and
100).
This is a very old crudely made item of ivory

ring money.
No Picture 2
Country: NIGERIA
District:
Village:
Description.: COWRIES
Refer Quiggins p99 Fig 35
No Picture 2
Country: NIGERIA
District: CALABAR
Village:
Description.: MANILLA
Refer illustration p89 Fig 26 Quiggin.

Used to purchase slaves and other commodities.
The earliest manillas made by Europeans for the

African trade were from the Portuguese in the
15th century. By the late 18th century the
Birmingham manilla became a standard for
trade in Nigeria. In the 17th century the Dutch
were paying 120 manillas for a male slave and
100 for a female. In 1948 they were de-
monetized and were purchased by the British
olonial Government which paid threepence each
for the majority.
No Picture 2
Country: NIGERIA
District: WESTERN NIGERIA
Village:
Description.: BELL PENDANT SMALL
Had a monetary value - maily due to the metal

from which it was made.
No Picture 2
Country: NIGERIA
District: LIMBA TRIBE
Village:
Description.: CLOTH
AS QUIGGINS PAGE 86. HAND LOOMED.

Trade item.
No Picture 2
Country: CAMEROON
District:
Village:
Description.: ARMRING (3 BELLS)
Confirmed by Gibbs in 1967 as monetary
No Picture 2
Country: UNITED STATES
District: CALIFORNIA
Village:
Description.: ARROWHEAD OBSIDIAN
Obsidian tools, mainly arrowheads and

spearheads were a popular and valued trade
item throughout North America. See Taxay page
87.
No Picture 2
Country: MEXICO
District:
Village:
Description.: BELL COPPER YUCATAN
Well described in Taxay. Cogolludo, a Franciscan

Friar in Yucatan mentioned in his book - -
Historia de Yucatn- published in 1688, that the
Maya used copper bells sa money. They were
valued by size.
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: TEABRICK (PART)
From Wikipedia: Due to the high value of tea in

many parts of Asia, tea bricks were used as a
form of currency throughout China, Tibet,
Mongolia, and Central Asia. This is quite similar
to the use of salt bricks as currency in parts of
Africa. Tea bricks were in fact the preferred
form of currency over metallic coins for the
nomads of Mongolia and Siberia. The tea could
not only be used as money and eaten as food in
times of hunger but also brewed as allegedly
beneficial medicine for treating coughs and
colds. Until World War II, tea bricks were still
used as a form of edible currency in Siberia.
Tea bricks for Tibet were mainly produced in the

area of Ya''an (formerly Yachou-fu) in Sichuan
province. The bricks were produced in five No Picture 2
different qualities and valued accordingly. The
kind of brick which was most commonly used as
currency in the late 19th and early 20th century
was that of the third quality which the Tibetans
called "brgyad pa" ("eighth"), because at one
time it was worth eight Tibetan tangka Coins in
Lhasa. Bricks of this standard were also
exported by Tibet to Bhutan and Ladakh.
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: INGOT TOK CHIENG SILVER
South of the Flower region and when Lannatai

came under Burmese domination (1615) the
C'ieng money was replaced by Tok coinages
which continued in official use until ca. 1880,
and later for ceremonial use and bride price.
Toks are rounded with patterns top and bottom
produced by the moulds. Bottoms usually show
red-yellow stains from crucible lubricants. Later
mythology attributed these stains to egg yolk
and chicken blood. The likely earliest toks (Tok
C'iengmai) are fine silver with high, fragile
domes, while the latest (Tok Nan) are thick,
base metal, with a vestigal dome. The toks of
C'iengmai, are hollow silver shells with rough,
fragile domed tops and a round, mouth-like
opening in a sturdy bottom colored red-yellow.
Fineness is about .400-.500 and they come in No Picture 2
five distinct denominations (1/16 to 1-Unit), the
largest two of which usually bear one or more
(often unclear) edge stamps of unknown
significance. The toks of Nan, farther east, show
a convex bottom and a "dome" reduced to a
wide oval scoop with raised edges and a hole
near the rim, weight 60-73g. Fineness of the
best pieces seems to be around .300-.400,
down to pure copper for some specimens with
some having characters etched into the reverse.
Country: SIAM
Village:
This is a bronze ingot called Lat Hoi - often

termed boat or canoe money because of their
shape.
being.
No Picture 2
Country: SAUDI ARABIA
District:
Village:
Description.: HAIRPIN MONEY (TOWEELAH)
800 yrs OLD. FOLLOWING IS A COPY OF A

LETTER FOUND WITH THESE: FROM THE MINT
OF CARMANIAN KINGS OF ARABIA SOME 800
YEARS AGO. IN SOME ISOLATED AREAS OF THE
DESERT BEHIND THE PIRATE COAST OF THE
PERSIAN GULF THEY ARE STILL THE ONLY
COINS IN CIRCULATION . CALLED THE
TOWEELAH OF HASA (LONG BIT OF HASA - THE
COUNTRY)
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: TAMBANUM
Village:
Description.: ADZE HAFTED STONE BLADE
Description: Obtained from New Guinea

Primitive Arts, Sydney,
A simple stone blade adze from the Tambanum

area. The black colour is soot from the item
being stored in the ceiling of the hut - above
the cooking and warming fires.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District: CHIENGMAI
Village:
Description.: TEKTITE
Description: Obtained from Paul Dillingham,

USA.
Well into the 20th century tekties were highly

valued by the Thais as they considered them to
be someting supernatural, parts of stars fallen
on earth to be used as amulets for protection
and so forth. The name for tekties in N.E.
Central Thailand is "Star Flake" and they are
incorporated into the popular Buddhist system
of beliefs and associated with the small
Buddhist votive tablets worn around their
necks.
Tektites, especially those of fish shape were

highly valued in trade.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: INGOT TOK NAN SILVER
Description: South of the Flower region and

when Lannatai came under Burmese domination
(1615) the C'ieng money was replaced by Tok
coinages which continued in official use until ca.
1880, and later for ceremonial use and bride
price. Toks are rounded with patterns top and
bottom produced by the moulds. Bottoms
usually show red-yellow stains from crucible
lubricants. Later mythology attributed these
stains to egg yolk and chicken blood. The likely
earliest toks (Tok C'iengmai) are fine silver with
high, fragile domes, while the latest (Tok Nan)
are thick, base metal, with a vestigal dome. The
toks of C'iengmai, are hollow silver shells with
rough, fragile domed tops and a round, mouth-
like opening in a sturdy bottom colored red-
yellow. Fineness is about .400-.500 and they
come in five distinct denominations (1/16 to 1-
Unit), the largest two of which usually bear one No Picture 2
or more (often unclear) edge stamps of
unknown significance. The toks of Nan, farther
east, show a convex bottom and a "dome"
reduced to a wide oval scoop with raised edges
and a hole near the rim, weight 60-73g.
Fineness of the best pieces seems to be
around .300-.400, down to pure copper for
some specimens with some having characters
etched into the reverse.
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: KNIFE MONEY MING. "Ming Dao"
Description: The "Ming" knifes probably

followed the pointed foot knives, but they are
still a bit of a mystery. The fabric is similar to
common square-foot spades except that the
inscriptions give no indications of mint names.
All bear the character "Ming" on one side
No Picture 2
Country: NIGERIA
District:
Village:
Description.: Needle Money (6)
Description: Ex S.Semans, USA.
Their name is "Anyun" but they are often called

"needle money". Originally worth one tenth
penny and later used in Juju. Refer illustration
p88 Fig 24 Quiggin.
No Picture 2
Country: SOUTH AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: EGGSHELL DISCS OSTRICH
From the Turkana and Samburu tribes of the

Lake Rudolph region.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: INGOT TIGER TONGUE BRONZE
The Kingdom of Laan Chang (Laos and

northeast Thailand) used silver tiger-tongue
money with the local name being Lat. The
capital of Lanchang was moved south to
Vientaine ca. 1530 and Mitchiner dates the first
Tiger Tongues to this period. These are of the
same shape as Leech money with rows of rough
bumps on the upper surface and sometimes
stamped symbols across the center. After 1707
the kingdom split into Luang Prabang and
Vientaine, and baser tiger tongues no doubt
continued to be made well into the 19th
century. Earliest lats were billon (base silver)
and relatively small, then they were made
larger and of good silver, and they ended up
small again and bronze or brass.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: INGOT BULLET MONEY SILVER
19th century silver coin of Siam.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: CHIMBU
Village: KUNDIAWA
Description.: Goldlip Pearlshell Crescent-Kina
Description: Obtained from the Fischer Trade

Store at Kundiawa in 1974.
The Kina, made of gold lip pearlshell, was used

for bride price, pig purchases and other
payments. In the 1960s it was values as legal
tender at twelve shillings per pair.
Refer Opitz p176 and Quiggins p180..
Deeper Apricot colour was more valued by the
locals.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: CHIMBU
Village: KUNDIAWA
Description.: Goldlip Pearlshell Crescent Kina

Dot Decoration

No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: CHIMBU
Village: KUNDIAWA
Description.: NOSESTICK PEARLSHELL (2)

Two lovely pearlshell nosesticks of the Chimbu

people of Kundiawa. They were probably
produced by slicing a thin segment from a Kina
shell.
Valuable trade items.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: CHIMBU
Village: KUNDIAWA
Description.: TOBACCO STICKS (2)

These sticks of tobacco were the normal

currency between the local New Guinean and
the European.
Many items could be purchased from the native

for this currency.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: CHIMBU
Village: KUNDIAWA
Description.: AXEBLADE STONE (LARGE)

A Very large stone axe blade - purely for use as

a Bride Price Axe and also for important
purchases.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: CHIMBU
Village: KUNDIAWA
Description.: COUNTERS BAMBOO OMAK

A tally of how many pigs and/or pearlshells that

a man has given in ceremonial exchanges - the
value of a big-man's worth.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: CHIMBU
Village: KUNDIAWA
Description.: SHELL GREEN SNAIL (3)

In the Highlands, green snail shell was of high

value.
it normally came to Mt Hagen through the

northern Melpa groups from the
Jimi.
Called Kokla koto or orpi.
They were used in ceremonial exchange, life

cycle payments, payments to experts, self
decoration and, occasionally, in brie wealth.
In some places, such as in Siane, the green

snail shell was preferred even over the goldlip
pearlshell. No Picture 2
It was worn by older men tied to the hair

behind the ears. Women wear thwm at their
ears also, especially for dancing at Moka and
one of the spirit cults.
Before World War II they were used to pay

bearers wages.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: CHIMBU
Village: KUNDIAWA
Description.: NECKLACE WALLABY TOOTH

A Wallaby tooth necklace from the Chimbu area.
A wearable item with trade/monetary value.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: CHIMBU
Village: KUNDIAWA
Description.: SHELLSTRING NASSA

A true money item of New Britain and

surrounds. Used as an actual money with uses
as far removed as buying small quantities of
betel to major purchases and Bride Price.
Refer Quiggins p150, Fig 55.
The nassa shell was also one of the main money

items in the Northern coastal area of New
Guinea. They were used for strictly items of
money and also wearable valuables.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: CHIMBU
Village: KUNDIAWA
Description.: PIG TUSKS (2)

Pig Tusks are highly valued throughout the

Pacific. Some notes on this include:
Laynard (1942) Tusk of the pig are valued

greatly (in New Hebrides) and High ranking men
wear the curled tusks as a sign of their status..
Strathern, M. (1977), For the people of Kalauna
(PNG), tusks were a valuable item used in
trading and Tusks were used in bride wealth
payments; the tusks were said to resemble the
fangs of the python which had great significance
in PNG mythology.
Quain, B. (1948), Pig tusks are used as
ornaments and are highly valued items (in Fiji).
Rakua F (1987) After cooking, the head of the
pig is removed with the tusks intact and is No Picture 2
presented to the head of the
village.
Simon Feeny (2016) states that the use of
traditional money such as pig tusks is still
common in the Solomons and Vanuatu.
Couper (2009) In the New Guinea Highlands pig
tusks were a medium of exchange and bride
price.
Gallego on Mendanas discovery of the Solomons

in 1568 wrote to say that the natives on the
island of Veru valued pig tusks very highly.
Country: CAMEROON
District: Yaunde Area
Village:
Description.: SPEARS MINIATURE IRON (2+2

CRUDE)
Description: Called Mimbass or Mimboss.
These are true currency items, although of low

value. Brideprice in the early 1930s was 6,000
Mimbass and they were still used as money in
the 1930s by the Yaunde tribe of the
Cameroons..
No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
District: Rylstone area
Village: Wiradjuri Tribe
Description.: AXEBLADE STONE
Description: Although never attaining a true

currency or money the stone axe blade was a
popular trade item throughout Australia.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: ROSSEL ISLAND
Village:
Description.: NKO (KE-KAO) -TEBUDA-
Description: Made by the god Wonajo before

man came to Rossel, this is an example of the
rare Shell Coin of Rossel Island called Nko. This
example is the denomination "Nko Ke-Kao
Tebuda". These were used in Brideprice, the
price for killing a man, warfare payments,
funerary payments, and as the price for part of
the body of the victim at a cannibal feast (the
Rossel Islanders were cannibals because their
god Wonajo was a cannibal).
Armstrong, in his book on Rossel, estimates
about 800 in total of Nko coins split between 16
different denominations. This makes any Nko an
item of the highest rarity. Opitz, in his book on
Primitive Money allocates a full page to Ndap
and Nko and in-depth articles have been printed
in the Eucoprimo and TMA Journals. Quiggins
allocates a full three pages to these items and
Armstrong, in his 1928 book, gives twenty five No Picture 2
pages to them. It is probable that, after the Yap
Stone Money, these are the most important of
Pacific Primitive Moneys. An important and
extremely rare item.
Class #7.
Obtained for me by Father English, Catholic
priest, Rossel Island.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: NDAP GAMA Class #2
Description: Obtained from Father English, the

Catholic Parish priest of the island.
Made by the god Wonajo before man came to
Rossel
This is an example of the rare Shell Coin of
Rossel Island called Ndap. This example is of
the denomination "Gama". These were made by
a god and were used in Brideprice, the price for
killing a man, warfare payments, funerary
payments, and as the price for part of the body
of the victim at a cannibal feast (the Rossel
Islanders were cannibals because their god
Wonajo was a cannibal). Of the highest rarity)
about 79 of this denomination to be in
existence. This item was part of the price of a
pig at a ceremonial pig feast.
Opitz, in his book on Primitive Money allocates a
full page to Ndap and in-depth articles have No Picture 2
been printed in the Eucoprimo and TMA
Journals. Quiggins, in her book on Primitive
Money, allocates a full three pages to these
items and Armstrong, in his 1928 book, gives
twenty five pages to them. It is probable that,
after the Yap Stone Money, these are the most
important of Pacific Primitive Moneys. An
important and extremely rare item.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: NDAP WUOBA Class #6

Rossel
the denomination " Wuoba ". These were made
by a god and were used in Brideprice, the price
for killing a man, warfare payments, funerary
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: NDAP DWONDWO Class #1

Rossel
the
denomination "Dwondwo". These were made by
Opitz, in his book on Primitive Money allocates a No Picture 2
full page to Ndap and in-depth articles have
important of Pacific Primitive Moneys.
An important and extremely rare item.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: NDAP PWOMONDAP Class #4

Rossel
the denomination "Pwomondap". These were
made by a god and were used in Brideprice, the
god Wonajo was a cannibal). Of the highest
rarity)
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: NDAP PWOMONDAP Class #4

Rossel
the denomination "Pwomondap". These were
rarity)
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: NDAP TEBUDA Class #7

Rossel
the denomination " Tebuda". These were made
Country: YAP
District:
Village:
Description.: PEARLSHELL W/FIBRE HANDLE
Description: This item is called yar nu betchrek

and is more valuable than the yar nu au. These
are made from a single pearlshell and, to the
hinge of the shells, is attached a stiff loop of
kaya twine which serves as a handle. These
shells are never used as ornaments, they are
money pure and simple.
They are valued on size with a shell of diameter
of an average hands length being about equal in
value to one entire set of seven yar nu au. The
shells may be trimmed along the sides, but the
thin edge facing the hinge must be always left
intactto mutilate this edge would lower its
value as the boring of a hole in a coin is in our
currencythe thin outer edge is always left in its
natural state, no matter how chipped and
ragged.
They are classed as being womens money just
as the stone money is mens. SHELL MONEY IS No Picture 2
used on Yap to purchase land, make war
payments, pay bride price, pay the mispil
(mistress in common) and as part of funeral
ceremonies. Shell money can be used to
accompany an apology for some transgression,
not to buy forgiveness but to physically
represent the apology.
I obtained this item from Mrs C Tun of the

Womens Club on Yap.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: PAPUAN GULF AREA
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING NASSA tautau
Description: From the collection of Alex

Griffiths, founder of the Bird Sanctuary at
Currumbin. Has been on display at the
Sanctuary for many years until I obtained it in
1974. In Griiffith's collection since before 1940.
See Quiggins p173 Fig 69.
A high value item in the Gulf area.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: Probably Kerema or Orokolo Bay Area
Description.: PENDANT -KAP KAP-

TORTOISESHELL & SHELL
Description: Called Koiyu.
From the collection of Alex Griffiths, founder of

the Bird Sanctuary at Currumbin. Has been on
display at the Sanctuary forv many years until I
obtained it in 1974. In Griiffith's collection since
before 1940.
Koiyu were made by the Roro speaking tribes
around Hall Sound which are really to the east
of the Gulf area but they were traded into the
Gulf as important and valued trade items. To
the Roro people the design is clan property and
these were ceremonially given to a warrior
when he had killed his first man, only then can
he wear it on his headdress.
These rare kap kap adornments come from
Kerama or Orokolo Bay areas in the Papuan
Gulf. They were only worn by village chiefs and
important elders and were a highly prized No Picture 2
status symbol. The backing is made from bailer
shell and the front from intricately cut turtle
shell
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: Probably Kerema or Orokolo Bay Area

Description: Called Koiyu.
From the collection of Alex Griffiths, founder of

the Bird Sanctuary at Currumbin. Has been on
display at the Sanctuary forv many years until I
obtained it in 1974. In Griiffith's collection since
before 1940.
Koiyu were made by the Roro speaking tribes
around Hall Sound which are really to the east
of the Gulf area but they were traded into the
Gulf as important and valued trade items. To
the Roro people the design is clan property and
these were ceremonially given to a warrior
when he had killed his first man, only then can
he wear it on his headdress.
These rare kap kap adornments come from
Kerama or Orokolo Bay areas in the Papuan
Gulf. They were only worn by village chiefs and
important elders and were a highly prized No Picture 2
status symbol. The backing is made from bailer
shell and the front from intricately cut turtle
shell
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: HEADBAND COWRIE

Sanctuary forv many years until I obtained it in
Cowries were used as a trade money in the area
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING COWRIE ROPE

From the Papuan Gulf and was a highly valued

item in the area.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: ARMBAND COWRIE

No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: HEADBAND CONUS AND FIBRE

A very important trade/money item.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: ELEMA PEOPLE
Description.: Armband Conus Shell

sectioned/Fibre Archer's Armband
No Picture 2
Country: PACIFIC
District:
Village:
Description.: SKIRT FIBRE
Description: Unidentified 'grass' skirt.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: CHIMBU
Village: KUNDIAWA
Description.: NECKLACE FLYING FOX TOOTH

See Quiggins page 128: The fruit-eating bats,

called from their foxy faces and colour flying-
foxes, have only 2 teeth more than Man, but
they are all much
the same in shape and size and are used as
ornament, while teeth as well as hair figure
largely in currency. The teeth are easily
recognized by the flattened-out crown and
marked longitudinal grooves. In New Ireland
strings of projecting bats* teeth bound on a
cord called agut or angut, are used for buying
nets and weapons,
No Picture 2
Country: NEW ZEALAND
District:
Village:
Description.: ADZEBLADE STONE
Description: In a collection before 1940.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: ADZEBLADE JADE
Description: Jade adzeblade collected before

1940.
An old standard valuable made of Pounamu
(also called Greenstone). This adzeblade is
made of Nephrite - a true jade.
The Mori valued pounamu in the same way
Europeans valued gold. Around the 1870s, Te
Otatu from Coromandel remarked: Let the gold
be worked by the white men. It was not a thing
known to our ancestors. My only treasure is the
pounamu. (Kati ano taku taonga nui i te
pounamu.)
The South Island Ngi Tahu people have a
particularly close relationship with pounamu,
which is found only within their tribal area. It is
valued for its strength, durability and beauty.
However, its value transcends the aesthetic and
practical properties. Because of its link with
chiefs and peace making, it is considered to No Picture 2
have mana (status) and to be tapu (sacred).
The stone is highly treasured by all tribes
throughout New Zealand, and it was extensively
traded in the North Island.
This item is thought to be 19th century.
Country: TOGO
District:
Village:
Description.: DISC HOLED STONE QUARTZ
Description: " There is a close relationship

between beads and holed stones (which may be
their ancestral type) and the holed stones of the
Gold Coast and Togo (Pl- 3, Fig- 3) have found
their way into many currency collections.' These
are pierced quartz disks, some 2 to 2 inches
(5 to 6-5 cm.) in diameter, and about 1 inch
thick. Suggestions for their use are: spindle
whorls, digging-stick weights, loom weights, net
sinkers, necklaces, arrow and implement
sharpeners, fire-making apparatus, and sacred
insignia. But as they have been found in
considerable numbers, one hoard under an old
tree (Worobong, Kwahu district) containing
hundreds if not thousands, they may be an
early form of currency. Others have been found
at a depth of 4-5 feet in a gravel deposit.
There is less uncertainty about their
modern use, which is as charms or amulets. No Picture 2
The natives believe that they have fallen from
the sky, some regarding them as the female
counterpart of the miniature stone implements
or 'god axes ' of the same region (Wild, 1927,
pp. i82-4; Man, I943, i[8). The holed stones
collected by Rattray in Togoland (now in the Pitt
Rivers Museum) were placed in water and the
water thus impregnated was used for washing
and drinking,
and stones were occasionally ground and the
powder administered for medicinal purposes,
just like that of ' aggry ' beads."
Quiggin, A. Hingston, A Survey of Primitive
Money, 1949
Country: KATANGA
District: Lomami & Kasai People
Village:
Description.: CROSS COPPER FULL SIZE

220mm
Provenance: Handa Cross Best-known Katanga

cross type, X-shaped, top side textured from
cooling metal, bottom side smooth with a ridge
at the juncture. "Puddle cast" from a sand
mould in the ground. Produced for the Lomami
& Kasai & traded as far as the Angola coast.
Refer Quiggins p103, Fig 38
Their main use is in Bride Price - refer Quiggin
pages 77-79.
No Picture 2
Village:
Description.: BEADS CLAMSHELL
Description: Called Hawack - from the Pomo

Indians and excavated in Baja, California.
From the collection of Neil Kent Becker (founder

of the IPOCMC).
No Picture 2
Country: MEXICO
District:
Village:
Description.: BEADS JADEITE SMALL (5)
Description: The Olmec civilization, which

thrived several centuries BC and in Pre-
Columbian Aztec America and also in Central
America, Jade in the form of beads, pendants,
ear plugs, etc. were a type of currency - to such
an extent that they were illustrated in Aztec
glyphs on the Codex Mendoza as a string of
jade beads. Montezuma told Cortes of the jade
he was sending to King Charles that: ''''each
stone is worth two loads of gold''''.
The Mayan buried jade with their dead to use as
money in the next life whereas the Aztecs only
included jade in the burials of chiefs or nobles.

of the IPOCMC).
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: CHIMBU
Village: KUNDIAWA
Description.: NECKLACE PIG TUSK

A high value wearable. Worn only by important

married women and also used as part of the
bride price.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE DOGSTEETH

One of the most valued money items

throughout New Guinea. Also used in Bride
Price.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SEPIK
Village: TAMBANUM
Description.: SHELLRING CLAMSHELL called

Iwan
Description: Called Iwan.
These come from the Mountain Arapesh people

of the Sepik area. All of these shell rings are
imported to them from the Plains people and
the Wallis Island people.. They are made by
these people who obtain the shell on the
beaches. This is the simplest of their money
rings and is simply a flat disc of shell.
No Picture 2
Country: EGYPT OR AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: BEAD CARNELIAN
No Picture 2
Country: NIGERIA
District: BIU DIVISION
Village: Bidda Tribe
Description.: ARMRING BRASS (BIDDA)
As Johansson page 13
No Picture 2
District: ALASKA
Village:
Description.: FISHHOOK POINT BONE
A minor trade/valuable of the Inuit.
No Picture 2
District: CALIFORNIA/MEXICO
Village:
Description.: ARROWHEAD IRON
FROM THE AMERICAN FUR CO. EXCAVATED - A

WELL KNOWN TRADE ITEM.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SIASSI ISLANDS
Village: SIASSI PEOPLE
Description.: SHELLSTRING NASSA /CASS.

QUILL STRING
USA.
A string of monetary value - seeQuiggin p154

Fig 56 .
This was a standard money item in the Siassi

area.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: BEADS GLASS
German Manufacture (from German New

Guinea).
No Picture 2
Country: SOCIETY ISLANDS
District:
Village:
Description.: FISHHOOK SHELL
EX JOHNSTON COLLECTION.
Fishhooks have been one of the most popular
trade items throughout the Pacific. This use
item had good trade value.
Almost exactly like the one collected by Captain
Cook.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: INGOT FLOWER MONEY SILVER
Description: Called Ywetni used from before

1287 in Burma. Refer Opitz p380.
HAS BEEN THROUGH THE RELIGIOUS RITES OF
NAN AND THE REVERSE SHOWS REMAINS OF
CHICKEN BLOOD AND EGG YOKE BAKED ON
King Mengrai founded the city of Chiang Mai in
1296 as the capital of his kingdom of Lanna.
The realm enjoyed considerable prosperity until
1386 when it came into conflict with Ayudhaya.
It was ruled as a Burmese colony from 1558
until King Taksin the Great (1767-1782)
declared Siamese independence from Burma. In
1774, Prince Kawila, led a Siamese army to oust
the Burmese from Chiang Mai. Since then,
Lanna has been part of Siam (Thailand).
Lanna cash consisted of Bia (cowry shell)the
smallest unitand metal currencies including
Leaf, Line, Tok, Pak Chee (Flower), and Chiang
(Ka Kim) monies. No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: INGOT KA KIM SILVER
Description: Also known as Tamlung they are

counterstamped with the denomination (4
baht) , Dynasty name and city name. From as
early as the 13th century.
See opitz p171.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MANUS ISLAND
Village:
Description.: SPEARHEAD OBSIDIAN
Description: Obsidian has been traded for over

three thousand years through the Admiralties
and on to New Britain and to many other areas.
A highly valued trade item.
The crocodile form on the haft would be to give

it power or Mana.
This item was in a collection from over 35 years

ago and was collectedPrior to 1940. It is
probably 19th Century.
No Picture 2
Country: NIGERIA
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE AGGRY BEADS

See Frontispiece item 6 Quiggin.
A bead money necklace.
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: INGOT SYCEE SILVER
Silver ingots were made in many different

shapes and sizes. This specimen is of a type
known by the quaint name of silk-shoe money
the bars were shaped like the silk shoes on the
tiny feet of aristocratic Chinese women. From
the 6th century onwards, the feet of aristocratic
girls were bandaged from birth,
because small feet were considered a mark of
beauty in women.
Probably 19th Century.
No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
District: Orange District
Village: Wiradjuri Tribe

No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description: Crude jade tool collected before

1940.
(also called Greenstone). This adzeblade is
Otatu from Coromandel remarked: Let the
gold be worked by the white men. It was not a
thing known to our ancestors. My only treasure
is the pounamu. (Kati ano taku taonga nui i
te pounamu.)
chiefs and peace making, it is considered to No Picture 2
Country: JAPAN
District:
Village:
Description.: INGOT SILVER COIN CHOGIN

Ansei Period 1854-60
Description: Low quality silver ingot/coin.
INGOT SILVER COIN CHOGIN Ansei Period 1854
-60
No Picture 2
Country: JAPAN
District:
Village:
Description.: COIN RECTANGULAR GOLD Nibu

Kin Ansei Period 1856-60
Description: Coin of Japan.
No Picture 2
Country: INDONESIA
District: SUMATRA
Village: Palembang (Korintji Tribe)
Description.: RING METAL SMALL SUMATRA
Description: From the collection of Neil Kent

Becker (founder of the IPOCMC).
Similar to the one illustrated in Millies H C
"Recherches sur les monnaies des indigines de
l''archipol Indien et de la peninsule malaie",
1871 - Palembang XIX.. these rings are a
means of exchange among the Korintji of the
interior of Palembang - see Quiggins page 266
No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
District: NSW, CENTRAL N.E.
Village:

No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: TAMI ISLAND
Village:
Description.: FISHHOOK BONE
Description: Fishhooks have been one of the

most popular trade items throughout the Pacific.
This use item had good trade value.
Obtained from the daughter-in-law of the

famous New Guinea explorer - Mick Leahy.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING CLAMSHELL
Description: Called Poata the name of which

now means ''money'' in the Solomons. They are
also known as poata keoro, bakiha keoro and
takula.
This is a type of Poata called Gure or ibaibala. It

is different to the normal poata in that it has
rounded edges whereas the standard poata has
squared off edges.
Made from Clamshell these rings are almost

perfectly uniform in the circle shape with very
regular, unvarying, thickness and width from
hole to edge. They were made from the upper
white sections of fossilized T. Gigas and T.
Squamosa shells.
These were next in value down from the

mbakia, No Picture 2
Poata circulated widely throughout the Western

Solomons as a general currency. They were
used also to purchase ritual knowledge,
maritime and land rights, for compensations
and as offerings to ancestors.
See Quiggin page 123.

Country: ZAIRE
District: Mangbetu People
Village:
Description.: SPEARHEAD IRON (MAPUKA)

CEREMONIAL
Ex Gibbs Collection. One of four purchased by

him from the Berlin Museum in 1961 for $55.
This Mangbetu iron money shows where the

original spearhead has evolved into a currency
item which would be useless for use as a spear.
Refer Quiggin bottom of page 64.
No Picture 2
Country: INDIA
District: MAGHADAN KINGDOM
Village: MAGHADAN KINGDOM
Description.: COINS KARSHAPANA SILVER
Coins of India.
6th Century BC. Pre - Empire.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE PORCELAIN

DOGSTEETH
Description: Obtained in 1975 from the
daughter-in-law of the famous New Guinea
explorer - Mick Leahy.
Antique European porcelain copies of dog teeth

were used in the place of the standard teeth.
Shell armrings, shellstrings and similar items
have been copied bu early Europeans to trade
with the natives.
A highly valued item at the time.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE BILAS

OLIVES/NASSA/CONUS
Description: Obtained in 1975 from the
daughter-in-law of the famous New Guinea
explorer - Mick Leahy.
A necklace of wearable wealth. Both the cone

shell and the nassa shell were two of the main
money items in the Northern coastal area of
New Guinea. They were used for strictly items
of money and also wearable valuables.
No Picture 2
Country: MALAYSIA
District:
Village:
Description.: COIN SILVER NAMO (LARGER)
Description: Sometimes called "rat dung

money".
The distinctive small bean-like coins called
Namo have been a long-standing numismatic
mystery. Who issued them, and when? Are they
precursors of the Thai pod-duang (bullet) coins?
Generally attributed to the powerful maritime
empire of Srivijaya, Dr. Michael Mitchiner''s The
History and Coinage of South East Asia (1998)
places them with Kalah, a rival empire which
shared control of the northern Isthmus. He
dates them to early 8th C. through late 10th C.
and suggests that they were derived from small
gold trade ingots. Gold pieces exist, but much
commoner are silver and base silver pieces.
Their signal feature, set in an incuse
depression, is a bold character Na which looks
like a four-legged animal looking backwards.
The reverse is a cleft on the smaller, usually No Picture 2
elongated "female" pieces, or various symbols
raised in a shallower depression on the larger,
round "male" pieces. Mitchiner notes silver
contents ranging from 11-26%
Country: MALAYSIA
District:
Village:
Description.: INGOT TIN HAT MONEY LARGEST
Description: Ingots made from tin (one of

Malaysia's most abundant natural resources)
were adapted into a coinage system by the
Malay sultanate of Pahang. The shape of this
particular type earned it the name 'tin-hat'
money. The first tin-hat shaped ingot was
issued in 1819. The Tampang (1/25 dollar) and
other denominations continued to be minted in
Pahang until 1889 and was legal tender until
1893. They were true coins.
No Picture 2
Country: MALAYSIA
District:
Village:
Description.: INGOT TIN HAT MONEY MEDIUM

No Picture 2
Country: MALAYSIA
District:
Village:
Description.: INGOT TIN HAT MONEY SMALLEST

No Picture 2
Country: MALAYSIA
District:
Village:
Description.: COIN SILVER NAMO (SMALLER)
Sometimes called "rat dung money".

The distinctive small bean-like coins called
Namo have been a long-standing numismatic
mystery. Who issued them, and when? Are they
precursors of the Thai pod-duang (bullet) coins?
Generally attributed to the powerful maritime
empire of Srivijaya, Dr. Michael Mitchiner's The
History and Coinage of South East Asia (1998)
places them with Kalah, a rival empire which
shared control of the northern Isthmus. He
dates them to early 8th C. through late 10th C.
and suggests that they were derived from small
gold trade ingots. Gold pieces exist, but much
commoner are silver and base silver pieces.
Their signal feature, set in an incuse
depression, is a bold character Na which looks
like a four-legged animal looking backwards. No Picture 2
The reverse is a cleft on the smaller, usually
elongated "female" pieces, or various symbols
raised in a shallower depression on the larger,
round "male" pieces. Mitchiner notes silver
contents ranging from 11-26%
Country: AUSTRALIA
District:
Village:
Description.: TEKTITES (4)
Description: Australites probably originated

during gigantic meteorite or comet impacts,
when myriads of small rock fragments were
blasted into the upper atmosphere, from where
they descended back to the surface. They are
about 800,000 years old.
Aborigines termed australites ooga ("staring
eyes"), and they were used as sacred objects or
as cutting tools. Aborigines of South Australia,
as late as the 20th century, were still using
unworked Australites for magical purposes
(Edwards 1966) but implements made of
Australites were not magic.
Shoemaker & Uhlherr (1999) noted the
presence of Australites with mollusc shells in
Aboriginal middens, evidence that Aborigines
have transported these tektites.
They were popular item as cutting tools and for
magic purposes and so had good trade value. No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SAN MATHIAS ISLAND
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE BEETLE LEG
Description: Refer Quiggins p184 Fig 4

of the IPOCMC).
A popular valuable wearable in the area.
No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
District: W.A.
Village: KALGOORLIE

Country: NEW GUINEA
District: WAU
Village:
Description.: SHELLS -CATSEYES-
Description: These were given in payment to an

Australain Serviceman during World War II in
the Wau area of New Guinea.
No Picture 2
Country: CAMEROON
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE BRASS BEADS
Valued items for wearing and valued in trade.
See Quiggins page 59.
No Picture 2
Country: NIGERIA
District:
Village:
Description.: ARMRING ELEPHANT HAIR
Elephant tail bristles or hairs were a readily

accepted money in many areas of Africa. The
tail was an extremely high value article and, at
one time, was worth two slaves.
Quiggins says (page 80) - Andrew Battell, at the
beginning of the 17th century carried all
commodities fit for that country as long glass
beads, and round blue beads and seed beads
and looking-glasses, blue and red cloth and
Irish rugs for trade. He exchanged these for
ivory palm fibre, cloth and elephants
tails. These were to be traded again, the
elephants tails in particular fetching a high
price, 50 hairs being valued at 1,000 rets and
one tail being equal to 2 or 3 slaves.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE GLASS BEADS

Ex Johnston Collection.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM/LAOS
District:
Village:
Description.: WEIGHTS -ELEPHANT-(4)

USA.
These weights are called opium weights or gold

weights and were used in Burma and Siam to
weigh precious items like gold, silver, jewellery,
opium and especially medicines,.
The weights conform closely to the baht weight,

which changed over the period and area.
Since both areas used ingots of metal as money

these weights were also monetary due to the
metal in them and are said to have been used
as a money..
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: INGOT LEECH MONEY SILVER
Description: LAOS, LANCHANG, c. 1353-1571

money sometimes called "leech money"
because it resembles a leech found in Thailand.
No Picture 2
Country: NIGERIA
District:
Village:


for the majority.
No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
District: W.A.
Village: WILUNA

Country: AUSTRALIA
District: WILUNA
Village:



have transported these tektites. No Picture 2
magic purposes and so had good trade value.
Country: AUSTRALIA
District: QLD.
Village: UPPER MULLIGAN RIVER
Description.: NARCOTIC LEAF-Pituri
Description: Pituri (Duboisia Hopwoodii):

Aboriginals, especially in Central Australia,
would place crushed pituri leaves into
waterholes to stupify emus and other birds and
marsupials , making them easier to kill.
One of the most important items in Aboriginal
trade. I arranged for two Aboriginal stockmen to
collect it from the main area from which the old
-time Aboriginals obtained theirs.
No Picture 2
Country: BORNEO
District:
Village:
Description.: SPEARHEAD IRON
Description: A spearhead from Borneo.
Presumably used by the Dyaks who would have

valued it highly.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: INGOT LEAF MONEY


(Ka Kim) monies.
Leaf and Line money are believed to be one of
the earliest Lannathai ingots No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE CUSCUS TOOTH
Description: A true money throughout much of

New Guinea.
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: INGOT SILVER SADDLE MONEY

These silver ingots are known as saddle money,

tortoise money or chair money. And like most
silver
ingots, saddle money was principally made in
China, though there are also examples bearing
Thai stamps. They mostly weigh 5 tael, between
180 and 200 grams (6.35 to 7 ounces).
No Picture 2
Country: JAPAN/KOREA
District:
Village:
Description.: RING MONEY CALLED KIN KWAN
Japan, Ancient. Ca. 500 B.C. AV kin-kwan (gilt

ring money). A copper core with a hammered
gold overlay, some of which has flaked off.
Quiggin p. 249, fig. 10; Opitz p. 280. Very rare.
These very rare rings, a primitive form of

money in ancient Japan and much of eastern
Asia, have been in use for at least 2500 years.
Since gold and silver were very scarce and
copper appears to have been considered a
precious metal in ancient Japan, these are
usually made of a copper core covered by
beaten gold or silver. They are found in the
ancient stone sepulchers which are similar to
dolmens in Europe.
No Picture 2
Country: LURISTAN
District:
Village:
Description.: ARROWHEAD BRONZE
Bronze ornaments and weapons were valued

commodities in Luristan This arrowhead was
excavated and dates to between 1000 and 650
BC.
No Picture 2
Country: LURISTAN
District:
Village:

commodities in Luristan This arrowhead was
BC.
No Picture 2
Country: MALAYSIA
District: SARAWAK
Village:
Description.: BELL BUFFALO BRASS
Description: Buffalo bell used as money by the

Iban and Kayan in Sarawak. See Quiggin page
258.
This example is almost exactly like Quiggins Fig
115.
No Picture 2
Country: MALAYSIA
District: SARAWAK
Village:
Description.: BEADS NECKLACE GLASS OLD
Description: Valued items for wearing but

valued in trade.
From Kayan people.
Beads both old and new are valued by the
Dayak people. Some beads were made locally
but many, especially those made of glass, came
from other parts of the world through trade.
These have found their way into the remotest
parts of Borneo.
Not only are the beads treasured as heirlooms
that are usually handed down from mother to
daughter but, in the old days before modern
money was available, beads were one of the
principal forms of currency.
Valuable beads are used as bride wealth and as
grave goods for the dead among aristocrats.
Some heirloom beads are only worn for rituals
and festivals while others are said to possess
supernatural qualities. No Picture 2
Country: NIGERIA
District: NORTHERN NIGERIA
Village: HAUSA PEOPLE
Description.: BEADS BAUXITE (3)
No Picture 2
Country: NIGERIA NORTH
District:
Village:
Description.: NOSE RING BRASS
A brass nosering worn in Nigeria. Because of

the small amount of metal it would have only
minor trade value.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: INGOT CHIENG SEN BAR
Ingot Money Siam. Named from the city name.
No Picture 2
Country: MALAYSIA
District: SARAWAK
Village:
Description.: RINGS FIBRE -UNUS-
Description: Among the Melano Dyak of Borneo,

Unus were items of money. Quiggin says on
page 258 - The unus, rings of very finely plaited
palm fibres (Fig. 113), could also be used
instead of money, a ring being worth a cent.
These are commonly worn by the men in
considerable numbers on the arm below the
elbow and on the leg below the knee. There
may be as many as 300 of them on one leg, a
handy way of carrying small change, and the
Kayan say that they feel quite naked without
them
(cf. Ling Roth, 1896, I, pp. 5, 14, 15, 23).
No Picture 2
Country: MALAYSIA
District: SARAWAK
Village:
Description.: BEADS (4) OLD

valued in trade.
parts of Borneo.
supernatural qualities.
No Picture 2
District: Southwest
Village:
Description.: ARROWHEADS STONE

BIRDPOINTS (7)
Description: Excavated in an Indian Mound near
the Ohio River near New Albany, South Indiana.
These are S.W.United States -Arizona - New
Mexico for origin and style. Valued items, not
normally used in hunting but rather kept as a
talisman or fetish to insure good hunting.
No Picture 2
Country: LAOS
District: ANNAM
Village:
Description.: INGOT SILVER BAR
Description: Silver coin/ingot of 19th century

Annam.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: GONG DRUM KYEE ZEE
Description: The most highly regarded valuable

of the Kareand Kha tribes of Thailand/Burma
and Laos. A man with one drum was regarded
as more highly regarded than one who has
seven elephants. Refer Opitz p197 and TMA
Journal A Man of Substance, a Man of Renown.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:

FRACTIONAL
counterstamped with the denomination,
Dynasty name and city name. From as early as
the 13th century.
See opitz p171.
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:

FRACTIONAL
counterstamped with the denomination,
Dynasty name and city name. From as early as
the 13th century.
See opitz p171.
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: JADE RING CARVED
Description: Peoples of the stone age

painstakingly crafted sharp axe heads and
traded jade trinkets as currency and it has been
suggested that pieces of jade were a form of
money as early as the Shang Dynasty.
Jade is known to have been used in ritual
ceremonies in China from about 5000 to 1700
B.C." (Del Sesto P.T34). For the ancient Chinese
people, jade was very important to daily life.
For hundreds, and even thousands of centuries,
jade has been closely associated with the
Chinese culture and the oldest jade object
found in China was the 12,000 year old
serpentine-like piece of jade that was found in
the Immortal Cave in Haicheng of Liaoning
Province.
In China it has always been a high value item if
not a money or currency.
This item probably 20th century. No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: JADE CICADA CARVED
Description: Peoples of the stone age

painstakingly crafted sharp axe heads and
traded jade trinkets as currency and it has been
suggested that pieces of jade were a form of
money as early as the Shang Dynasty.
Jade is known to have been used in ritual
ceremonies in China from about 5000 to 1700
B.C." (Del Sesto P.T34). For the ancient Chinese
people, jade was very important to daily life.
For hundreds, and even thousands of centuries,
jade has been closely associated with the
Chinese culture and the oldest jade object
found in China was the 12,000 year old
serpentine-like piece of jade that was found in
the Immortal Cave in Haicheng of Liaoning
Province.
In China it has always been a high value item if
not a money or currency.
This item probably 20th century. No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Trobriands (probably)
Village:
Description.: ADZEBLADE STONE GOUGE
Description: An unusual stone adze blade with a

scooped cutting edge. Thought to be Massim for
canoe building.
No Picture 2
Country: GUATEMALA
District: MAYAN
Village:
Description.: CELT JADE MAYAN PEOPLE
Description: Excavated in the Guatemala

Highlands by the supplier. Up to 17 in a pottery
jar. Classic Maya period 600-900 AD. Used by
the Maya, in conjunction with a round
hammerstone, to carve their famous limestone
carvings. Buried with the dead. Very scarce -
any over two inches in length are very scarce.
The Olmec civilization, which thrived several
centuries BC and in Pre-Columbian Aztec
America and also in Central America, Jade in
the form of beads, pendants, ear plugs, etc.
were a type of currency - to such an extent that
they were illustrated in Aztec glyphs on the
Codex Mendoza as a string of jade beads.
Montezuma told Cortes of the jade he was
sending to King Charles that: ''''each stone is
worth two loads of gold''''.
money in the next life whereas the Aztecs only No Picture 2
Country: GUATEMALA
District: MAYAN
Village:

Country: GUATEMALA
District: MAYAN
Village:

Country: GUATEMALA
District: MAYAN
Village:

sending to King Charles that: ''each stone is
worth two loads of gold''.
District: VIRGINIA
Village:
Description.: PIPE POTTERY
Description: Powhatan Indian trade pipes. Early

1700s from the original factory at Pamplin,
Appomattox, Virginia. These were made for
trade to the Indians They were moulded in
wood moulds, fired and placed in large
underground crocks to age. The factory burned
down and all trace of it was lost. It was found
again in the 1970s.
This appears to be #L on the register of Pamplin
pipes.
No Picture 2
District: VIRGINIA
Village:

again in the 1970s.
This appears to be #I on the register of Pamplin
pipes.
No Picture 2
District: VIRGINIA
Village:

again in the 1970s.
This appears to be #K on the register of
Pamplin pipes.
No Picture 2
Country: GUATEMALA
District: MAYAN
Village:

Country: GUATEMALA
District: MAYAN
Village:

sending to King Charles that: 'each stone is
worth two loads of gold'.
Country: COLOMBIA
District: TAIRONA PEOPLE
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE TAIRONA BEADS
Description: From the Tairona Culture circa 600-

900 AD. These were excavated in clay pots in
burials. The beads are made of fired clay,Jade,
Serpentine, slate, quartz, etc. These were
apparently one of the most treasured
possessions of these people and were to be
carried with them into the next world.
No Picture 2
Country: MEXICO
District:
Village:
Description.: AXEBLADE TAU COPPER
OAXACA, stylised copper model of axe or hoe

blade. A currency which circulated in Oaxaca in
early post-Columbian times.
They passed out of circulation in about 1600.
Sigler page 10.
Taxay page 45.
Opitz page 25.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Trobriands - Massim
Village:
Description.: AXEBLADE STONE MASSIM BEKU

or BENAM. Ancient.
Description: An ancient stone axeblade called
Beku. Made from the normal greenstone the
surface of which has been oxidised by age.
Used to buy pigs, food, canoes and land; to
procure sorcery; to pay for those slain in battle;
to appease an enemy; to make peace; to
procure the death of an enemy; to buy dances
and excahange for other wealth. Extremely
important.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Trobriands (probably)
Village:
Description: This Trobriand axe blade, although

not the greenstone Beku but is similar in shape,
has the outline of a fish (probably composed of
fossil shells) showing on the surface. This would
have made it special and a powerful Mana
object.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: East Sepik, West Yangoru
Village: Koboibus
Description: This shell money ring is made of

clamshell and comes from West Yangoru in East
Sepik.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village: Illipiem
Description.: SHELL MELO PENDANT LARGE

ILLIPIEM
Description: From the Illipiem area of the Sepik.
These were rare and difficult to obtain, which

made them a high value object.
They were ornaments, a currency and used in
some areas as bride price.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: INGOT BULLET MONEY BASE

METAL
Description: See Le May Plate VI No. 7,
Kneedler Plate XI page 65, Coins of Thailand
page 30.
A so-called bullet money of base metal.
No Picture 2
Country: INDONESIA
District: MADURA ISLAND
Village:
Description.: ANKLERING MADURA
Description: Made from a white metal.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: BEADS CLAMSHELL
Description: SHELL MONEY OF THE POMO

INDIANS.
No Picture 2
Country: LURISTAN
District:
Village:
Description.: SPEARHEAD BRONZE

commodities in Luristan This spear head was
BC.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: KuKuKuKu Cannibals
Village: Menyamya (Gorok)
Description.: BARK CLOTH WITH DESIGN
Description: An item of apparel of the Kukukuku

cannibals. It is a bilas or valuable item. It is
worn on the back and is called Bibi.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: BOUGAINVILLE
Village:
Description.: BASKET
Description: Minor trade item of Bougainville

and dating to before World War II.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MT. HAGEN
Village:
Description: A tally of how many pigs and/or

pearlshells that a man has given in ceremonial
exchanges - the value of a big-man's worth.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: HIGHLANDS
Village:
Description.: SHELL GREEN SNAIL
Description: In the Highlands, green snail shell

was of high value.
it normally came to Mt Hagen through the

northern Melpa groups from the
Jimi.
Called Kokla koto or orpi.
They were used in ceremonial exchange, life

cycle payments, payments to experts, self
decoration and, occasionally, in brie wealth.
In some places, such as in Siane, the green

snail shell was preferred even over the goldlip
pearlshell.
It was worn by older men tied to the hair

behind the ears. Women wear them at their No Picture 2
ears also, especially for dancing at Moka and
one of the spirit cults.
Before World War II they were used to pay

bearers wages.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: HEADBAND BEETLE
Description: A valued decorative wearable.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: NASSA/TUSK/L.COWRIE/CROC.
TOOTH
Description: A mix of trade items of value.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: West New Britain Province
Village: Witu Island (formerly French Islands)
Description.: Shellring Double Conus Pendant

Bound With Red Orchid Vine
Description: From the collection of R Taylor in
1976.
Chest ornament worn on a thin string by natives

of the French Islands (just North of New Britain)
and the North Coast of New Britain.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: GOROKA
Village:
Description.: BAG STRING - BILUM
Description: A bilum is a traditional woven

string bag worn mainly by women in Papua New
Guinea They come in different colors and styles
according to their origin
Bilums can be a gift , a memento from ones
hometown, a symbol of wealth or of ones
position in society.
E S Rogers Curator Royal Ontario Museum
states that the bilum is a common article of
exchange.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: GOROKA
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING NASSA WIDE ROPE
Description: As well as in the Highlands, where

this comes from, the nassa shell was also one of
the main money items in the Northern coastal
area of New Guinea. They were used for strictly
items of money and also wearable valuables.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: PEARLSHELL (2 HOLES)
Description: An unusual item collected in the

early 1960s from New Guinea. It is not a knife
or scraper but a decorative item with two drilled
holes for use as a pendant or to hang shell
beads, etc.
A valuable money item.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: NOSESTICK CLAMSHELL
Description: This actual item is iIllustrated on

page 13 of Money Substitutes and Favoured
Trade Items of Torres Straits and Papua Gulf by
Col Davidson.
It was a high value money/trade item in the
Torres Strait/Papuan Gulf area.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village: Goroka
Description.: BARK CLOTH
Description: Unusual bark cloth with impressed

design.
No Picture 2
Country: CEYLON
District:
Village:
Description.: COIN BONK COPPER LARGER
Description: Coin of Ceylon.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: COIN LARGE HOLED OF LEAD
Description: Coin. 13-15TH CENT KHMER

CIVILIZATION OF ANGKOR
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SAN MATHIAS ISLAND
Village:
Description.: BELT WOVEN - SAN MATTHIAS
Description: San Matthias also has a form of

currency in woven girdles - Quiggin Plate 8, Fig.
3-
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: IRIAN JAYA
Village: MERAUKE AREA
Description.: SHELLS -CATSEYES-
Description: These were given in payment to an

Australian Serviceman, during World War II, on
the Digoel River in Dutch New Guinea.
No Picture 2
Country: MALAYSIA
District: SARAWAK
Village:
Description.: BEADS (5) OLD

valued in trade.
parts of Borneo.
supernatural qualities.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: INGOT BULLET MONEY SILVER (4)
19th century silver coins of Siam.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Sepik
Village:
Description.: SHELL WHORLS CONUS
Description: These conus shell pieces are highly

valued monetary items from the Sepik area.
Used for important purchases and bride price.
From the Bruce Miller Collection.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE CONUS
Description: Collected by Bruce Miller, Australia.
High value conus disc necklace. A true money

item.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Sepik
Village:
Description: From the collection of Bruce Miller.
Called Yua.
Rings (yua) fashioned from the hard, marble-

like shell of the giant clam were, and to some
extent remain, the primary form of wealth
among the Abelam people. Ceremonial
valuables, yua were displayed or exchanged as
part of most major rituals and rites of passage.
At birth, a ring is presented to the childs
maternal uncle, who later will help guide him
through the complex male initiation cycle. At
marriage, the groom presents yua to the
brides parents, the number he is able to
give becoming a lifelong source of pride. At
death, gifts of yua to maternal relatives help
ease the passage of the spirit to the afterlife.
Shell rings also play an integral role in No Picture 2
ceremonial life. They are displayed during male
initiation, the dedication of mens ceremonial
houses, and other occasions, as symbols of the
strength and wealth of the community.
The rings are so prized that a man, wishing to

emphasize another mans status or his
affection for him, will address him as wuna yua
(my ring).
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Sepik
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING CLAMSHELL -called

Greg- or Dubalin (Hornbill)
Called Dubalin or Kueruek or Greg.
These come from the Mountain Arapesh people

of the Sepik area. All of these shell rings are
imported from the Plains people. They are made
by the Plains Arapesh who obtain the shell on
the Beach. This is the variety called the ring
"with a nose" which they call the hornbill
(dubalin).
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Sepik Area
Village:
One of the most valued money items

throughout New Guinea. Also used in Bride
Price.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: NEW BRITAIN ISLAND
Village:
Description.: NASSA SHELLS ON CANE

DIWARRA
A true money item of New Britain and

surrounds. Used as an actual money with uses
as far removed as buying small quantities of
betel to major purchases and Bride Price.Refer
Quiggins p150, Fig 55.
No Picture 2
Country: FIJI
District:
Village:
Description.: WHALE TOOTH SPLIT
Description: Called Tambua

.
Obtained from Stephen Kellner in 1977.
Stephen Kellner was a well known dealer in
Tribal Art and supplied items to many of the
worls great museums.
In Fiji the tambua was used in bride price and

as a favourite medium of exchange.
When a youth seeks a wife, the acceptance of a

tambua constitutes a binding contract of
marriage.
They were used for high value transactions -

such as the purchase of a canoe, buying
alliances or having a person killed.
See Opitz page 379. No Picture 2

Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MASSIM
Village:
Description.: PENDANT CONUS -DOGA-MASSIM
Description: Obtained from Stephen Kellner in

1977 - a well known dealer in Tribal Art in the
early days. He supplied many quality items to
the world's museums.
A 19th Century necklace valued from the

Papuan Gulf through to the Massim people.
Obtained in 1977 from Stephen Kellner, an
imporant dealer of Tribal Art to the worlds
museums in the 1970s and before.
A very important money/trade item.

District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING CLAMSHELL (called

Poata)
the world''''s museums.
Called Poata the name of which now means

'money' in the Solomons. They are also known
as poata keoro, bakiha keoro and takula.

Squamosa shells.
Following bakiha in importance are poata, which

are made from the upper and whiter sections of
fossilised T.gigas and T. squamosa clamshells; No Picture 2
poata circulated throughout the Western
Solomon islands as the chief barter currency.
These were exchanged during trading
expeditions for Canarium nuts, shields, torches,
other shell valuables and ornaments (e.g., dala
head disks), slaves, and other commodities.
They were used to pay for access to fishing
grounds for community fish and turtle drives
(kokopa) Aswani 1997), offered to the
ancestors as an irreversible prestation,
and broken near shrines to mark transfer of
land rights or the movement of people. These
rings are
commonly found at shrines of all kinds and can
be found
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING CLAMSHELL CRUDE

(called Bareke or Mbariki)
Description: Obtained in 1977 - from Stephen
Kellner of Sydney who was a noted supplier of
Tribal Art to many of the worlds museum in the
early days.
Called Bareke or Mbariki or Ukeana.
These have been dated to a period prior to

1600 AD. by Shankar Aswani and Peter
Sheppard (2003).
It would be made of Tridacna Squamosa shell

and was a very highly valued shell ring. These
were the oldest type of Roviana exchange
medium and were mainly used in matters of
high importance and shrines in Roviana contain
Bareke which are often purposely broken. In
nearby Simbo these shell rings are regarded as No Picture 2
being alive and when they die (are broken ?)
their spirit goes to Sondo the residence of
ancestral spirits. It is likely that a somewhat
similar belief is held on New Georgia.
In Roviana, Bareke were principally used for

land fertility rites and access, as priestly
insignia and in ritual transfer of land rights.
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING CLAMSHELL LARGE

(called Mbakia)
the worlds museums.
Called Mbakia, Bakiha, Bakisa or Erenge.
These are a variety of the standard Poata - the

difference being the yellow stain at one edge
which is the yellow colour from the hinge of the
giant clam.
As with the Poata these rings are almost

hole to edge.
Bakiha were graded by size, texture and the

concentration and extent of the yellow to red No Picture 2
stain on their surface
Bakiha were shell rings made from the hinge

section of fossilized Tridacna gigas clamshells
and graded according to size, texture, and color,
with only the adductor muscle area yielding the
most reddish and highest valued rings.
These were used in a wide variety of social
exchanges ranging from bride price to the
settlement of hostilities, but
they are pre-eminently seen as emblems of
chiefly power and as offerings made at ancestor
shrines, with skulls of chiefs often being placed
on top of bakiha.
It is as offerings at shrines that they appear
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING PINK SAPI

1977. Kellner was a well known dealer in tribal
art and supplied marvellous items to many of
the great museums.
This shellstring has small diameter shells and is

a high value and monetary red shellstring.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Southern Highlands.
Village:
Description.: SHELL MELO PENDANT LARGE
Description: called gam. From Southland

Highland area where it was only worn by Big
Men.

In the Highlands, bailer shell was of high value.
It was used for ceremonial exchange, life-cycle

payments, payments to experts, bride wealth
and decoration.
Called Kokla raem (tam in Teboka).

No Picture 2
It was worn by boys, women and girls. Both
sexes wear large bailers over the breast for
dancing and men also wear rounded pieces on
their foreheads.
Country: FIJI
District:
Village:
Description.: WHALE TOOTH TAMBUA

.
Obtained from John Magers, Sydney in 1977.


marriage.

See Opitz page 379.
No Picture 2
Country: FIJI
District:
Village:

.


marriage.

See Opitz page 379.
No Picture 2
Country: GILBERT ISLANDS
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING -TEKARORO-
Description: Obtained fom John Magers,

Sydney.
Called Tekaroro.
This was a standard type of money in the

Gilberts made from alternating discs of conus
shell and coconut shell. They were traded
widely.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING SAPI
Description: Obtained from John Magers,

Sydney.
A long string of sapi-sapi shellstring of high

value in the area.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: ARMRING CONUS TOEA (MWALI)
Description: ex John Magers of Sydney
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: New Britain
Village: Kilenge or Huon Gulf
Description.: ARMBAND TORTOISESHELL
Description: Called Navoi.
Obtained from John Magers, Sydney.
Beautiful custom carving of a crocodile and

other custom designs.
The lizard design is also shown on some of their
wooden bowls.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: EAR PENDANT JADE

Sydney.

(also called Greenstone). This ear pendant is
pounamu.)
practical properties. Because of its link with No Picture 2
chiefs and peace making, it is considered to
District:
Village:
Description.: SHIELD

Sydney.
Called Lave.
Roviana trading parties traded with groups in

Kusaghe (northern New Georgia) which was
known for its specialized
production of wicker shields (lave). It was
common to trade poata shell money rings,
made on Roviana, for the shields.
District:
Village:
Description.: AXEBLADE FLINT

Taken from a necklace which had broken. The

necklace was given to Neil Kent Becker by Mrs
Sigler after Col. Sigler died (Sigler Collection).
No Picture 2
Country: BANKS ISLANDS
District:
Village:
Description.: FEATHER -WETAPUP- ORNAMENT

Ex Schulman (Gibbs Collection)
A wearable decoration/money - see Quiggins

page 135.
No Picture 2
Country: MEXICO
District: AZTEC
Village: MECAHA, GUERRERO
Description.: BEADS JADE (7)
Description: 300-600 AD ex a grave site.The

jadeite probably came from Guatemala by trade
and was worked by the Aztecs.
sending to King Charles that: 'each stone is
worth two loads of gold'.
No Picture 2
Country: MALAYSIA
District: SARAWAK
Village:
Description.: GONG BRONZE
Description: FROM SEA DYAKS-2ND DIVISION,

BUT BROUGHT INTO KUCHING BY THE IBANS
Stated by Quiggin to be a true currency and
used as compensation for killings, see page 10
and page 257. Hose mentions them as currency
used by the Kenyahs.
No Picture 2
Country: MALAYSIA
District: SARAWAK
Village: 3RD DIVISION, KAPIT.
Description: I obtained this armring from

Sarawak and it is an important monetary and
wearable item.
Rare.
It was used and highly valued by the Dayaks of

Kapit 3rd Division, Sarawak.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MT. HAGEN
Village:
Description.: AXE HAFTED MT. HAGEN-
Description: A lovely example of the famous Mt.

Hagen axe. Used in bride Price and valuable
transactions.
ex Brian Dudley Nicholson - the husband of
Muriel Steinbeck the famous Australian actress.
He collected it in Mt Hagen in about 1960.
Country: Chad, Nigeria, Cameroon etc.
District:
Village: Sara and Potokwo People
Description.: THROWING KNIFE STEEL
Description: Called Ngalio.

Used as a terrible weapon of war but also as a
currency object.
Opitz mentions that these throwing knives were

considered a store of value, a standard of value,
a token of wealth, a treasured heirloom and
were used in bride price.
Picture not found:

C:\USERS\COL\DOCUMENTS\KEEPERNET\PIC94-8485-2.JPG
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: East Sepik
Village: MURIK LAKES AREA
Description.: SHELL NASSA SHELL MONEY -

MAIJ-
Sydney.
A very scarce example of the "MAIJ" shell

money of the Sepik Area of New Guinea. These
are illustrated In Quiggins book (p173) on
Primitive Moneys and also by the German
ethnologists Finsch and Schneider. These are
not to be confused with the normal nassa shells
on string which are used as decoration
throughout New Guinea. The Maij is a specific
item which was used as a money only. Both
Finsch and Quiggins advise that they are a true
money and currency. They were also known by
the names SSanem and Darram and these are
the names that Finch and Schneider usually
use.
From the Murik Lakes area.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: NISSAN ISLAND
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING SINGLE GROOVE
Description: Called Tintol.
Refer Quiggin page 122 and Lewis 1929 page

10 and Plate II.
A high value shell ring made of clamshell. It

was not an armring - it was purely a money
item.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING CONUS 75mm

Called Hokata, Bokolo or Tinete.
The smallest and slimmest of the shell valuables

are hokata made from conus shells. These were
less valuable and used in barter, marital rituals,
as small compensation transfers and were given
to chief's by men for the sexual services of
'ritually designated women'. They were also
used to decorate skull shrines of important
men.
No Picture 2
District: KWAIO
Village:
Description.: EAR STICK PLAITED
Description: A minor trade and gift valuable

from the Kwaio people called 'au sakwalo .
From the collection of Stephen Kellner, in 1977,

who supplied quality tribal items to many of the
great Museums.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description: Obtained fom Paul Dillingham,

USA.

item throughout North America.
Because of its size and rarity this blade would

have been a high value item.
See Taxay page 87.
No Picture 2
Country: GUATEMALA
District: MAYAN
Village: LAKE GUIJA
Description.: OBSIDIAN CORE MAYAN PEOPLE

Sydney.
Not exactly a trade item but this is a core used

to stike off flakes of obsidian to be knapped into
blades, arrowheads, etc.
Fro Lake Gija in Guatemala. Mayan.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Sepik
Village:
Description.: SHELL DISC & COWRIE
Description: A mix of valued items.
Both the cowrie and disc of conus shell were

minor valuables in this form. When made into
necklaces or strings they became high value
and were used for bride price and other
important payments.
No Picture 2
Country: MEXICO
District: MITLA
Village:
Description.: AXEBLADE TAU COPPER MITLA
Description: OAXACA, Post-classic "Tarascan," c.

1250-1540 AD, "tajadera" hoe money
No Picture 2
Country: CONGO
District:
Village: Kuba People
Description.: KNIFE STEEL BLADE
Description: A Custom knife, of the Kuba

people, called Ikula.
Most have very intricate inlaid metal work on
the handles, with standard grooves in the blade,
and were probably intended for status or
currency rather than use as a knife.
The Kuba people always refer to themselves as
the Bakuba which translates to people of
the throwing knife.
These ceremonial knives were introduced by an
early Kuba king as a peaceful replacement for a
more warlike throwing knife.
Knives, daggers and swords from the Kuba
people are used as prestige items. Historical
documents indicate that quantities of them
were brought to the Congo by Portuguese and
Dutch traders beginning around the 16th
century. Many daggers were then forged by
Congolese blacksmiths to emulate foreign No Picture 2
examples. They were reserved for nobles and
used for important ceremonial occasions.
Country: NIGERIA
District:
Village:
Description.: BEAD BRASS W/LOOP
Munshi Beads The Tiv (a.k.a. Munshi) tribe of

Shima, northern Nigeria used looped brass
beads of average 12mm imitating a seed,
valued at 1/4 silver Dirhem of the
Mediterranean caliphates. Quiggin illustrates
them (p.60) and discusses them (p.59)
No Picture 2
Country: UGANDA
District:
Village:
Description.: BEADS IVORY DISCS (3)
QUIGGINS PAGE 100 - VERY OLD
No Picture 2
Country: NIGERIA
District:
Village:
Description.: ARMRING BRASS (QUIG. P85 FIG

21)
See Quiggins page 85 Figure 21
No Picture 2
Country: NIGERIA
District:
Village:
Description.: BEADS BRASS (9)
No Picture 2
Country: MALI
District:
Village:
Description.: BEADS COPAL AMBER (2) (4

HOLES)
No Picture 2
Country: GUATEMALA
District: MAYAN
Village:
Description.: CELT JADE LARGEST MAYAN

PEOPLE
Country: MEXICO
District: CHICHEN ITZA
Village:
Description.: BELL COPPER SMALL (2)
Description: Taken from The Well of Sacrifice at

Chichenitza during a short time when it almost
dried up.
Described in Taxay. Cogolludo, a Franciscan
valued by size.
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: PU MONEY WANG MANG 25
Description: Pu Money of Ancient China.

The characters show that it was worth 25 cash.
Minted under the emperor Wang Mang of the
Xian Dynasty 9-23 AD..
No Picture 2
Country: ENGLAND
District: Cissbury
Village:
Description.: AXEBLADE FLINT AND

SCRAPER
Description: The small flint scraper was
excavated at "Greenyers's Nursery Site" which
was a Neolithic flint-tool producing site and was
about 4 miles west of Worthing.
The flint axe was excavated from one of the
ancient flint mines near the iron-age fort at
Cissbury. 3000-2600BC. Examples of Cissbury
flint can be found as far afield as Italy. Axes
were produced on site, as rough-outs, these
were then traded or used off site.
Country: NIGERIA
District:
Village:
Description.: CALABAR ROD
Description: Called Okpoho okuk
Ex S.Semans, USA.
A yard in length of rod bent to a "U" shape.

Imported from England and worth sixpence until
demonetized by the British Authorities in 1907.
No Picture 2
Country: NIGERIA
District: Bidda Area
Village: Nupe Tribe
Description.: ARMRING BRASS HEAVY
Attributed to Nupe Tribe, Bidda area, N. Nigeria
No Picture 2
Country: BRUNEI
District:
Village:
Description.: CANNON BRONZE MINIATURE
Models of bronze cannons were used in

Indonesia as prestigious objects and a means of
payment for the bride price. Apparently only the
weight of the cannon was decisive, not whether
it was still in a position to fire. The bride price is
estimated by explorers to have been between 3
and 5 pikuls (1 pikul = 60 kilograms in bronze),
so that it was certainly wise to have a heavy
cannon available.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:

(PICKLE)

shape.
being.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: TORRES STRAITS - PAPUAN GULF
Village:
Description.: CLUBHEAD STONE DISC called

"Waduli"
Sydney.
Gaba-gaba (or Waduli) stone headed clubs were

first described by one of Torres captains in
1606. They were used in warfare, trade,
ceremonies and kept as treasured heirlooms.
The ones used by the islanders seem mainly to
have been manufactured in the islands and
have been traded (or travelled as spoils of war)
as far west as the Tugeri lands of Irian Jaya and
I have obtained a somewhat similar one to this
from as far east as Dobu Island and they have
also been reported from the Ramu River area
and New Britain.
In the Torres Straits they were traded to and
from the mainland and, as a matter of interest,
Chalmers was killed with a stone gaba-gaba
club. No Picture 2
This actual item is iIllustrated on page 23 of

Money Substitutes and Favoured Trade Items of
Torres Straits and Papua Gulf by Col Davidson
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELL COWRIE OVULA (2)

A valued trade item throughout much of New
Guines. Added to enhance the appearance of
the Mwali used in the Kula Trade and to other
valuables in other areas.
In the Solomons it seems to have been a minor

trade item
No Picture 2
Country: CAMEROON
District:
Village:
Description.: BEAD CHEVRON
Description: Six layer Chevron dating to the late

1800s or early 1900s
No Picture 2
Country: ETHIOPA
District:
Village: DANIKULE PEOPLE
Description.: ARMRING COPPER
Description: A monetary bracelet from the

Danikule people.
No Picture 2
Country: KENYA
District: Maasai people
Village:
Description.: PENDANTS BRASS (2) ON

LEATHER STRIP
Description: It is called Surutia and is worn by
mothers of circumsized sons.
A necklace of the Maasai people of Kenya and it
consists of a crude strip of animal hide,
decorated with a few beads, on which is
suspended two coils of brass wire. Here the
coils are used as a necklace. The separate coils
are also used as earrings.
A minor standard decoration which also has
value because of the metal content.
No Picture 2
Country: KENYA
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELL DISCS CONUS (4)
Description: Quiggin on page 50 says - These

end whorls of the shells, or more often disks
ground down from them, are prominent as
regalia and talismans in East Africa, especially
in Tanganyika Territory, Kenya and Northern
Rhodesia, and though they are rarely recorded
as currency they figure largely in ceremonial
presentations and are used
in bride-price and fines.
The 19th century explorer, Dr David

Livingstonereported that two cone shell discs
could purchase a slave, while five bought an
elephamt's tusk. Anyone might own a coneshell
disc but in most tribes only individuals of high
rank could wear them as ornaments.
No Picture 2
Country: KENYA
District:
Village:
Description.: BEADS AMBER (2)

valued in trade.
No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
District:
Village:
Description.: PEARLSHELL PENDANT INCISED
Description: Pearl shell from the northwest of

Western Australia travelled further perhaps than
any other object. The broad, gleaming, silvery-
white shells of the Kimberleys, often incised
with geometric patterns and perforated by a
small hole, were seen worn as 'aprons' or
pendants by Aborigines as far away as the
Great Australian Bight, 1600 kilometres from
their place of manufacture... These shells were
items of enormous significance and were used
in both sorcery and the most sacred rituals.
No Picture 2
C No: C.0227a Acq Date: 7805
Country: AUSTRALIA
District:
Village:
Description.: OCHRE
Description: For more than 40 000 years

Australian Aborigines had been mining the land
for ochre and stone.
Aborigines depended on stone implements to
get and process their food; ochre was a vital
ingredient in art and religious practices; quarry
sites were developed to cater for the demand
for these products; and transport routes were
established to allow for their trade.
The ochre and stone deposits exploited by
Aborigines were of particularly high quality.
The higher the quality, the larger the mining
operation and the greater the distance over
which the product was traded. Ochre from N.W.
South Australia and from E. Western Australia
and stone axes from Mount Isa-Cloncurry were
traded far outside these districts. At times many
clans would gather near a quarry site to trade
for the stone or ochre and to hold ceremonies, No Picture 2
initiations and other important cultural events.
Ownership of mines was with the clan on whose
land they occurred and access to them was
allowed only with the permission of these
custodians. Within a clan, the actual mining was
often done by a smaller group who had special
knowledge of how to extract the resource.
C No: C.0227b Acq Date: 7805
Country: AUSTRALIA
District:
Village:
Description.: OCHRE

Country: AUSTRALIA
District: NORTH AUSTRALIA
Village:
Description.: KNIFE STONE (MAN'S)
Description: Shaped stone tools were used as

spearheads and knives and were a very popular
trade item in the North of Australia.
With the knives a sharp point is regarded as for
a man's use and one with the rounded end, as
the woman's.
No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
District:
Village:
Description.: CHISEL STONE TULA (5a,b,c,d,e)
Description: A recognised standard trade item.

Usually embedded in a wood haft with gum and
used as a chisel
No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELL MUSSEL
Description: Freshwater mussel shells have

been found as grave goods in a burial near
Dubbo.
A tool used to hold ochres, paints and the like.
A trade item.
No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
Village:
Description.: KNIFE STONE (WOMAN'S)

the woman's.
No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
District:
Village:
Description.: OCHRE (5a,b,c,d,e)

Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE PIG TOOTH
Description: A necklace of pig teeth.

A wearable money/trade item.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MT HAGEN
Village:
Description.: AXE HAFTED MT. HAGEN
Description: Stone axe from the Mt Hagen area
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: PORPOISE TEETH
Description: Porpoise teeth were a true money

in the Solomons and used in Beride Price,
mortuary payments and in general purchase
and trade.
No Picture 2
Country: ASSYRIA
District:
Village:
Description.: RING BRONZE
Description: Quiggins (page 279) states that

rings have been found in gold, silver, bronze
and iron from Scandinavia and Ireland, in the
West, Minoan Crete, ancient Greece and Rome,
to India and Japan in the East, often of sizes or
shapes unsuitable for wearind as ornaments,
and often appearing to fit into a graduated scale
of weights: this suggests that they were a form
of currency, and their use in present-giving is
abundantly seen in literature.
Here is an ancient wearable money ring.
No Picture 2
Country: MALAYSIA
District: SARAWAK
Village:
Description: Stated by Quiggin to be a true

currency and used as compensation for killings,
see page 10 and page 257. Hose mentions
them as currency used by the Kenyahs.
No Picture 2
Country: NIGERIA
District: Biu Division
Village: Bidda Tribe
Description.: ARMRING BRASS (BIDDA-

LARGER)
Description: Ex Paul Dillingham, USA.
As Johansson page 13
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: ARROWHEAD OBSIDIAN RED

item throughout North America. The red obsidin
was especially prized, See Taxay page 87.
No Picture 2
Country: MEXICO
District: AZTEC
Village:
Description.: JADE PENDANT

No Picture 2
Country: JAPAN
District: Luchu Islands
Village:
Description.: THIN BASE SILVER DISC CALLED

Hatome Sen
Description: Obtained from Scott Seman, USA.
These are simply crude base silver coins without

inscription and are dated to about ca 1700-50?
Ten of these to the Mon.C105, Munro p165.
No Picture 2
Country: LURISTAN
District:
Village:
Description.: RING BRONZE
Quiggins (page 279) states that rings have been

found in gold, silver, bronze and iron from
Scandinavia and Ireland, in the West, Minoan
Crete, ancient Greece and Rome, to India and
Japan in the East, often of sizes or shapes
unsuitable for wearind as ornaments, and often
appearing to fit into a graduated scale of
weights: this suggests that they were a form of
currency, and their use in present-giving is

commodities in Luristan This armring was
BC. No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:

No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: INGOT TOK CHIENG SILVER
South of the Flower region and when Lannatai

came under Burmese domination (1615) the
C'ieng money was replaced by Tok coinages
which continued in official use until ca. 1880,
and later for ceremonial use and bride price.
Toks are rounded with patterns top and bottom
produced by the moulds. Bottoms usually show
red-yellow stains from crucible lubricants. Later
mythology attributed these stains to egg yolk
and chicken blood. The likely earliest toks (Tok
C'iengmai) are fine silver with high, fragile
domes, while the latest (Tok Nan) are thick,
base metal, with a vestigal dome. The toks of
C'iengmai, are hollow silver shells with rough,
fragile domed tops and a round, mouth-like
opening in a sturdy bottom colored red-yellow.
Fineness is about .400-.500 and they come in No Picture 2
five distinct denominations (1/16 to 1-Unit), the
largest two of which usually bear one or more
(often unclear) edge stamps of unknown
significance. The toks of Nan, farther east, show
a convex bottom and a "dome" reduced to a
wide oval scoop with raised edges and a hole
near the rim, weight 60-73g. Fineness of the
best pieces seems to be around .300-.400,
down to pure copper for some specimens with
some having characters etched into the reverse.
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: INGOT FLOWER MONEY SILVER
Called Ywetni used from before 1287 in Burma.

Refer Opitz p380.
(Ka Kim) monies.
No Picture 2
Country: INDONESIA
District:
Village:
Description.: KNIFE KRIS MINI IN SHEATH

Sydney.
Some have been used as a substitute for the

groom in some wedding ceremonies. Valued as
a currency in some areas - see Quiggins page
258. Also see Fig 112 for illustration258.
Small example possibly for a child or woman.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SEPIK AREA
Village:
Description.: PEARLSHELL CRESCENT GOLDLIP-

KINA
Sydney.

No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description: Ancient stone adzeblade.
From Paul Dillingham in 1978.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Ancient stone adzeblade.
No Picture 2
Country: GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: BEADS AMBER (3)
No Picture 2
Country: CONGO
District:
Village:
Description.: BEAD (COIL TYPE) COPPER
A very rare bead. A gift from Mrs Quiggin to

Howard Gibbs. When Paul Dillingham was in
Calabar in 1964 there were only two similar
coiled pieces in the Museum there.
No Picture 2
Country: PERU
District:
Village:
Description.: BEAD COPPER HORN
Description: One only was sold by Paul

Dillingham. This one was from Gibbs personal
collection.
In all of his collecting he obtained two only of
these.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: INGOT TIGER TONGUES BRONZE

(6:a-f)

No Picture 2
Country: FIJI
District:
Village:
Description.: WHALE TOOTH SMALL

.
Obtained from Paul Dillingham, USA in 1978.


marriage.

See Opitz page 379.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW CALEDONIA
District:
Village:
Description.: BEADS GREEN STONE (3)
#IP17 - QUIGGINS PAGE 171
No Picture 2
Country: BRUNEI
District:
Village:
Description.: GONG BRONZE DECORATED

This example has a lovely embossed design
somewhat similar to some Brunei cannons.
No Picture 2
Country: INDIA
District:
Village:
Description.: COINS (2) KARSHAPANA COPPER
Description: Coins
No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
District: W.A.
Village: KIMBERLEYS
Description.: SPEARPOINT GLASS (2 - a,b)

When the white man came his metal and glass
items were able to be used in the place of
stone.
The Glass Spear Points were highly valued as a
prestige item but were not as dependable as
stone.
They were later a popular item to trade with the
whites.
The spear points from the Kimberleys are

characterised by symmetrical, pressure-flaked
bifacial points. These points may have been
regarded more as ritual or status objects, as
they were traded along the trade routes to
distant tribes. After the overland telegraph was
established the porcelain insulators became a No Picture 2
sort after material for the construction of these
points, along with glass. These high quality
points were being used by the desert tribes
1000 km away in circumcision rituals.
Country: AUSTRALIA
District: W.A.
Village: KIMBERLEYS
Description.: SPEARHEAD STONE


regarded more as ritual or status objects, as
established the porcelain insulators became a
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: SAGO BLADE STONE
Description: Worked stone items, such as this,

were highly valued and readily accepted in
trade.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Boiken Area, East Sepik
Village:
Collected by Ron Perry between 1964 and 1973.

Margaret Mead in The Mountain Arapesh III
mentions that these were used as Bride Price.-
19th century.
Ron Perry was an adventurous American who
emigrated to Australia. He then went to New
Guinea and collected artifacts, from there and
the South Pacific, for over forty years. After his
return to America he became one of the best
known artifact dealers in the world. the story of
his early years istold in "Art Dealer in the Last
Unknown" (2011) Leigh and Perry.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: PEARLSHELL MAPRIK
Description: Collected by Ron Perry between

1964 and 1973.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA/AUSTRALIA
District: TORRES STRAITS
Village:
Description.: ARMRING CONUS WAURI
Description: Armring Conus Wauri (called wawri

by the western Islanders and wauri by the
eastern Islanders of the Torres Strait and
mabuo by the Kiwai
Haddon states that a good armlet was worth a
wife. These armrings were one of the most
valued items of the area.
This actual item is iIllustrated page 52 of
Edmundson & Boylan, Macleay Museum book
"Adorned". Also illustrated page 5 of Money No Picture 2
Substitutes and Favoured Trade Items of Torres
Straits and Papua Gulf by Col Davidson. Refer
Quiggins p181 Fig 77.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MAPRIK AREA
Village:
Description.: ARMRING PORCELAIN MAPRIK

1964 and 1973.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Sepik
Village:
Description.: ARMRING PORCELAIN

1964 and 1973.
A European copy in porcelain of the shellrings

used as money.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: PORA PORA RIVER OR YUAT RIVER
Description.: NECKLACE NASSA/GLASS BEAD

1964 and 1973
Exactly the same as the illustration in Figure 4.3
(apart from the number 787 instead of 775) in
Ron Perry''''s book "Art Dealer in the Last
Unknown"
An old and highly valued monetary item of

nassa shells and trade beads.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MAPRIK AREA
Village:
Description.: TOBACCO MAPRIK

1964 and 1973.

These cigar shaped items are tobacco from the

Maprik area of New Guinea. The shape is the
normal custom shape. A money/trade irem.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: TROBRIANDS
Village:
Description.: ARMRING CONUS MWALI

1964 and 1973. Similar to photograph on page
27 of The Kula A Bronislaw Malinowski
Centennial Exhibition Robert H Lowie Museum
of Anthropology California 1985.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village: ENGA AREA
Description.: AXE HAFTED ENGA STONE
Description: A lovely example of the famous

green stone Mt. Hagen axe. Used in bride Price
and valuable transactions.
Ex Stephen Kellner, in 1978, who supplied

quality items to some of the world''s great
museums.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING SMALL CLAMSHELL
Description: Ex Stephen Kellner, in 1978, who

supplied quality items to some of the world''''s
great museums.
Called Mbakia, Bakiha, Bakisa or Erenge. These

are a variety of the standard Poata.
As with the Poata these rings are almost

hole to edge.
Bakiha were graded by size, texture and the

concentration and extent of the yellow to red
stain on their surface
Bakiha were shell rings made from the hinge

section of fossilized Tridacna gigas clamshells
and graded according to size, texture, and color, No Picture 2
with only the adductor muscle area yielding the
most reddish and highest valued rings.
These were used in a wide variety of social
exchanges ranging from bride price to the
settlement of hostilities, but
they are pre-eminently seen as emblems of
chiefly power and as offerings made at ancestor
shrines, with skulls of chiefs often being placed
on top of bakiha.
It is as offerings at shrines that they appear

archaeologically.
Country: AUSTRALIA
District:
Village:
Description.: BOOMERANG
Description: Aboriginal groups exchanged

natural resources, such as ochres, and tools,
stone axes and boomerangs, thus creating
extensive trading networks. Goods travelled
hundreds of kilometres from their original
source.
For example, boomerangs made in Central

Australians would find their way to Arnhem
Land and the surrounding islands. Didgeridoos
from Arnhem Land would find their way down to
Central Australia. Pearl shells from the
Kimberley were traded through Central Australia
down into South Australia.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: BEADS ABALONE SHELL (3)
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: INGOT TROUGH MONEY SILVER
Sometimes called "banana" bars because of

their curved shape these bars of good silver are
called Hang, Ngern Rong or Ngan Rong. They
were made from the early 1800s until the
Second World War.
No Picture 2
Country: GUATEMALA
District: MAYAN
Village:

Country: NEW HEBRIDES
District: AOBA
Village:
Description.: PIG JAW FULL CIRCLE TUSKS
Description: I obtained this pig skull directly

from an elder of the island.
It is a rare item as it is unbroken and, usually,

the skull is split in the pig killing ceremony.
The pig itself, and not the skull, was the

valuable item on the island but both the skull
and circular tusks are valued throughout the
Pacific.
No Picture 2
District: AOBA
Village:
Description.: MAT HAKWEA (LONG MAT)
Description: I obtained this mat directly from an

elder of the island who had problems finding
suitable mats due to ceremonial use - in
September 1978 two old men died on the island
and over two hundred mats were used in their
burials, thus making the appropriate mats
rather scarce..
It is called Hakwea which simply means long

mat. It is valued money mat and as well as
money it was also used in bride price and as a
covering of bodies for burial. Their value
depends on their length which is normally from
thirty to a maximum of six hundred feet long by
eight to eighteen inches in width. I have
measured this example to about nine inches
wide by over fifty feet long. It is woven from
quarter inch wide strips of pandanus and the
ends are neatly edged and the sides are edged No Picture 2
so that strips protrude from the mat as
decoration.
District: AOBA
Village:
Description.: MAT ROSO

elder of the island who had problems finding
suitable mats due to ceremonial use - in
September 1978 two old men died on the island
and over two hundred mats were used in their
burials, thus making the appropriate mats
rather scarce.
It is called Roso and is valued and widely traded

as as they are needed to cover the dead for a
burial. These mats normally measure about
eight to twelve feet long by two to three feet
wide. This one is about twenty six inches wide,
is folded down the middle join and has edge
decorations of small tassels and combed
pandanus fibre which gives a ten inch long
clumped fibre effect whic looks similar to a
mass of thin dried grass (again similar to
Quiggins Plate 8 (2). No Picture 2
District: AOBA
Village:
Description.: MAT GWANA MAVUTE

elder of the island.
It is called Gwana Mavute and is worth about

one quarter the value of the red mat..
As well as money it was also used as a sleeping

mat by the ranking people - the higher classes
use the red mat. The name simply means white
mat as it is undyed and natural in colour. These
mats normally measure about eight to twelve
feet long by two to three feet wide. This one
has no designs and very short fringing and a
simple end decoration.
No Picture 2
District: AOBA
Village:
Description.: MAT MALO

elder of the island.
It is generally called Malo or Bari but its full

name is Singo Gwalo Gwalo.
It is a small woven mat dyed with a red native

dye. It is about four feet long by ten to twelve
inches wide. When worn by men it hangs in
front of the pubic area and, for women is tied
around the buttocks and front and worn during
pig killing ceremonies and dances. There are
several grades of mat and they are valued
accordingly. The higher grade mats can only be
worn by high chiefs and the lower grades by
ordinary persons. This one has a design, woven
in Pandanus strips, on top of the ordinary mat
(a secondary weaving) and this, in most cases,
upraised design is coloured with the plum or No Picture 2
mulberry coloured stain. The mat has fringes at
each end and, for the last five inches, on each
side. This fringing is the fine split Pandanus
fibre similar to Quiggins Plate 8 (2) and is also
stained. A fine lattice work design is also
incorporated in the whole design.
District: AOBA
Village:
Description.: MAT GWANA HEREHERE
Description: Called Gwana Herehere.
I obtained this mat directly from an elder of the

island who had a lot of trouble in obtaining one
with the native made custom dye. The
traditional dye is difficult to prepare in the
quantities required for a Gwana. He finally
obtained one from an old widow who had made
the mat about ten years previously (about
1969).
It is called Gwana Herehere and is worth about

four times the value of the white mat..
As well as money it was also used as a sleeping

mat by chiefs and high ranking people - lower
classes use the white mat. The name simply
means red mat. It is rare because of the
traditional red dye (all others on the island at No Picture 2
the present time, 1979, have non traditional
dyes). These mats normally measure about
eight to twelve feet long by two to three feet
wide. This one is about three feet wide with
fringing of about eighteen inches on both sides.
This fringing appears to be similar to Quiggins
Plate 2 but not as long.The mat is decorated on
one side with a plum or mulberry coloured stain
giving a somewhat geometric design.The ends
have a complicated open or latticework design
in the weaving.
District: AOBA
Village:
Description: I obtained this adze directly from

an elder of the island.
Called Mata-Maeto.
Exhibited at the South Pacific Festival of Arts at

Rotorua in 1976. The haft was made for the
exhibition but the blade is ancient..
No Picture 2
District: AOBA
Village:
Description.: BOWSTRING GUARD

BANGGAVARA
Description: It is called Banggavara.
I obtained this armring directly from an elder of

the island.
It was worn on the wrist to protect the bowman

from the string when fighting. It was an item of
trade as not every man could make them.
No Picture 2
District: AOBA
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING HOMU
Description: I obtained this shellstring directly

from an elder of the island.
The shellstring is called Homu and originally

was an important money item. It is no longer
(1979) used as money because of their scarcity
and the fact that they are no longer made. It is
a rare item.
No Picture 2
Country: MALAYSIA
District:
Village:
Description.: KNIFE KRIS
Description: Some have been used as a

substitute for the groom in some wedding
ceremonies. Valued as a currency in some areas
- see Quiggins page 258. Also see Fig 112 for
illustration
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: ADMIRALTY ISLANDS
Village:
Description.: DOG TEETH INSCRIBED (9)

1964 and 1973
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE COWRIE ROPE called

TSIMUA
1964 and 1973 Refer Quiggins p177 Fig 75B.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: MANDOK ISLAND
Description.: BOWL WOODEN

Sydney.
Mandok Island, Siassi Islands. On the south

coast of New Britain these bowls were
exchanged in brideprice. after having been
traded from the Siassi
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: HEADBAND CASSOWARY

Sydney.
A valued and wearable trade/money item..
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description: From the John Magers collection.
Thought to be 19th century.

pounamu.)
chiefs and peace making, it is considered to
The stone is highly treasured by all tribes No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village: KAMANIBIT
Description.: NECKLACE COWRIE
Description: A true money throughout most of

New Guinea.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING TROCHUS
Description: A large and valuable trochus shell

armring.
This armring is plain and has no edge designs.

It is very old and from New Guinea.
No Picture 2
Country: GHANA
District:
Village: ACCRA
Description.: IRON PIN
EX DANT, EX GIBBS. VERY SCARCE. QUIGGINS

PAGE 74 FOOTNOTE #1.
No Picture 2
Country: CONGO
District:
Village:
Description.: BEADS IRON (3)
See Quiggin page 62 - in many parts of Africa

iron is money.
Ex Buck Collection
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA - EAST
District:
Village:
Description.: BEADS Sundry (AP56)(3)
The English name is -pound beads-. The name

in Swahili is -Ushonga-. The large red one is
called -Damu Yamma Yangu - -My Mother's
Blood-.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: HUDSON BAY BEADS

WHITEHEARTS
Comminly used in Canada and among Northern

Plains Indians. These items were actually osed
and Paul Dillingham actually sifted them from
rotting leather.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: INDIAN TRADE BEADS NSA36
FROM PAWNEE, SIOUX, WINNEBAGO - OLD -

FROM A BOARD PUT TOGETHER IN THE 1930S.
No Picture 2
Country: LITHUANIA
District:
Village:
Description.: BEAD AMBER
Amber from the area has been a favoured trade

item for millennia
No Picture 2
Village:
Description.: AXEBLADE STONE LARGE
Description: Landtman advised they had very

great value with a single one forming a
considerable part of the price of a bride or a
canoe. By his time he felt they were mainly
ceremonial and often kept on graves or at
waterholes.
Haddon suggested that it was probable that
they had been out of use for a century - so it is
quite possible that all of these axes date to the
18th century and before. He also suggests that
they were trade and monetary items.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: PIG TUSK CIRCLE

Sydney.
in PNG mythology.
Rakua F (1987) After cooking, the head of
the pig is removed with the tusks intact and is
presented to the head of the village.
Simon Feeny (2016) states that the use of No Picture 2
price.
Country: EGYPT
District:
Village:
Description.: CLOTH
Description: Ex lot 371 Sotheby Parke Bennet

sale in May 1973 from Troy New York Library
Collection donated by Frank G Griswold who
collected it in Cairo in 1902.
Was a popular trade item of the period.
No Picture 2
District: TEXAS
Village:
Description.: ARROWHEADS STONE

BIRDPOINTS (9)
Description: Excavated in Texas.
Valued items, not normally used in hunting but

rather kept as a talisman or fetish to insure
good hunting.
No Picture 2
Country: MEXICO
District:
Village:
Description.: BEAD JADE LARGE
Description: Mezcala Culture, Pacific Coast.

No Picture 2
Country: ETHIOPA
District:
Village:
Description.: SALT BLOCK
Description: Quiggin says (page 51 and

illustration page 56 Fig8) that salt is the typical
currency of Abyssinia, and the common
payment for carriers along the Kasai and is
accepted in place of money right across Africa,
extinguishing native cloth currencies on the
way.
Opitz (page 289) gives a lot of information..
No Picture 2
Country: KATANGA
District: Sanga - North of Katanga
Village:
Description.: CROSS COPPER MINI H 12mm
Description: Sanga Cross Shaba Kingdom.

Small, early copper cross money very
irregularly cast in a rough H-shape excavated at
Sanga, north of Katanga, reliably dated to 15-
18th Century. A true money.
Refer the book - Luba - by MN and AF Roberts
A geat deal of copper was cast in the form of H
or X shaped copper crosses that were used as
currency (money).
During the period from 1200 to 1600 civilization
flourished in the Luba heartland. One sign of
growth was the greatly increased production of
copper crosses in a range of sizes. They suggest
that towns were springing up and people were
becoming specialized in a range of occupations.
Tiny crosses made by the thousand served as
small change in market transactions.
For many centuries copper crosses were traded
all over central Africa. They have been found in No Picture 2
Zimbabwe and across both Tanzania and Angola
to the Indian and Atlantic Oceans. Portuguese
merchants even took them from Africa to South
America. Wide distribution of copper crosses
made Luba kingdoms famous as centres of
wealth and power.
Refer to the lower part of page 77 of Quiggin.
Country: KATANGA
District: Sanga - North of Katanga
Village:
Description.: CROSS COPPER MINI H40mm
Description: Sanga Cross Shaba Kingdom.

Small, early copper cross money very
irregularly cast in a rough H-shape excavated at
Sanga, north of Katanga, reliably dated to 15-
18th Century. A true money.
Refer the book - Luba - by MN and AF Roberts
A geat deal of copper was cast in the form of H
or X shaped copper crosses that were used as
currency (money).
During the period from 1200 to 1600 civilization
flourished in the Luba heartland. One sign of
growth was the greatly increased production of
copper crosses in a range of sizes. They suggest
that towns were springing up and people were
becoming specialized in a range of occupations.
Tiny crosses made by the thousand served as
small change in market transactions.
For many centuries copper crosses were traded
all over central Africa. They have been found in No Picture 2
Zimbabwe and across both Tanzania and Angola
to the Indian and Atlantic Oceans. Portuguese
merchants even took them from Africa to South
America. Wide distribution of copper crosses
made Luba kingdoms famous as centres of
wealth and power.
Refer to the lower part of page 77 of Quiggin.
Country: MALI
District: DOGON
Village:
Description.: ONION BALL
Description: A minor trade item in the area.
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District: LAKE TCHAD
Village:
Description.: BEAD SHELL (HIPPO TOOTH)
Description: Though made of clamshell, "hippo

teeth" is the name the African traders gave to
these beads. Found primarily in Nigeria, they
are a traditional African bead and are hundreds
of years old!
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: ARMRING BI-METAL
Description: Monetary Bracelet
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District: Nigeria
Village:
Description.: ARMRING TWISTED METAL
Description: Monetary Bracelet. Paul Dillingham

calls it a Wave Manilla.
No Picture 2
Country: BORNEO
District:
Village:
Description.: IRON DISC ETCHED
Description: Later found to be charms - not

Primitive Money.
No Picture 2
Country: BORNEO
District:
Village:
Description.: IRON BALL ETCHED

Primitive Money.
No Picture 2
Country: BORNEO
District:
Village:
Description.: IRON BALLS (6) ETCHED

Primitive Money.
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: SPEAR IRON
Description: Obtained from Stephen Kellner of

Sydney in 1979. Kellner was a well known
dealer in tribal art to some of the world's great
museums.
Iron was money in many parts of Africa (see

Quiggin) and spearheds were particularly valued
as a monetary weapon.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE SMALL CONUS
Description: A money necklace of worked conus

shells.
From Stephen Kellner in 1979. Kellner was a

famous dealer in tribal art and his name is
mentioned in many provenances of important
items from some of the great museums.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE SHELL
Description: A string of shell discs that would

have had high monetary valuable. Possibly from
the Papuan Gulf.
Ex Stephen Kellner in 1979. Stephen Kellner

was an important dealer in Tribal Art and his
name is on the provenance of many important
items in major museums.
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District: North Africa
Village:
Description.: ARMRING SILVER
Description: A Manilla Style Monetary Bracelet.

Probably made from melted down silver coins.
No Picture 2
Country: North East Uganda
District:
Village: Karamojong tribe,Turkana People
Description.: KNIFE STEEL BLADE FINGER
Description: These Turkana finger knives,

known locally as ngigolio are forged from Iron
and aluminum. They were banned by the British
during the colonial rule as they were deemed
lethal in close combat fights. They are far more
difficult to find present day among the Turkana
where the arirait wrist knife is a more common
weapon or tool
No Picture 2
Country: JAPAN
District:
Village:
Description.: Ingot Bean Money Silver Mameita

Gin Ho Tempo Period 1837-58
Silver coin of 19th century Japan.

INGOT BEAN MONEY SILVER Mameita Gin Ho
Tempo Period 1837-58
No Picture 2
Country: JAPAN
District:
Village:
Description.: Ingot Bean Money Silver Mameita

Gin Sei Ansei Period 1854-60
Silver Coin of 19th century Japan.

INGOT BEAN MONEY SILVER Mameita Gin Sei
Ansei Period 1854-60
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING CONUS 52mm SMALL
Description: Obtained from John Magers of

Sydney who was a dealer in Tribal Arts in the
early days.
This shell ring is possibly too small to be a

Hokata. It would probably more correct to call it
a Bulau. Bulau is the generic name for Conus
Shell and an item such as this made from it.
These were less valuable and used in barter and

minor purchases. They were also used to
decorate skull shrines of important men.
No Picture 2
Country: PERU
District: INCA PEOPLE
Village:
Description.: Cloth
This was excavated in Peru and came from the

collection of Howard Gibbs who had a number in
envelopes. This is rare example of Incan
weaving of circa 1500 AD.
To the Aztec, cotton meant not only warmth,

but protection. From it he made the heavy
quilted armour that was judged by the Spaniard
to be superior to his own. Cotton could not be
grown in the Anahuac Valley because of its high
elevation and so cloth became a principal article
of Aztec trade and tribute.
According to the Codex Mendoza one large
cotton mantle would pay for a canoe. It was
noted elsewhere that thirty would pay for an
ordinary slave and forty, for one who could sing
and dance. No Picture 2
Among the Maya small squares of cotton fabric

served as the unit of exchange.
In Brazil Smyth noted that cotton was one of

the principal trade items and the most widley
used commodity money was a coarse cotton
cloth called tucuya. In Ecuador a similar
currency was reported as late as 1923.
Accosta mentions the currency use of cloth in

Bolivia.
See Taxay.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: NEW BRITAIN, ARAWE AREA
Village: KANDRIAN VILLAGE
Description.: PEARLSHELL, CANE ATTACHMENT
Description: Called Tuali or euk
These goldlip pearlshells, with their custom

adornments, were highly valued and used as
money in certain transactions. See Melanesian
Shell Money Lewis p 11, Plate IV.
These were used as a bride price payments and
were their traditional currency.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: PIG TUSK NEAR DOUBLE CIRCLE
Description: An extremely high value item due

to it being nearly double circle which would
have taken nearly 14 years to grow to this
shape.



in PNG mythology.
Quain, B. (1948), Pig tusks are used as No Picture 2

pig is removed with the tusks intact and is
village.
price.

Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SEPIK
Village:
Description.: HEADBAND OLIVE SHELLS
Description: Olive shells were scarce in the area

and a valued trade item.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING WHITE SAPI
Description: Obtained from New Guinea

Primitive Arts, Sydney.
This is an old standard money white shell string

from the Solomons.
No Picture 2
Country: MALAYSIA
District:
Village:

illustration8.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELL COWRIE GOLDEN

Sydney.
Highly valued - especially in Fiji.
In the past, on the Fiji Islands, this shell, known

as "bulikula", was drilled at the ends and worn
on a string around the neck by chieftains as a
symbol of rank or privilege.[
No Picture 2
Country: MEXICO
District:
Village:
Description.: AXEBLADE THIN COPPER
MEXICO, GUERRERO-MICHOACAN, Post-classic

"Tarascan," c. 800-1200 AD, copper-arsenic
alloy "tajadera" hoe money,
No Picture 2
Country: NIGERIA
District:
Village:
Description.: MANILLAS (7)


for the majority.
No Picture 2
Country: NIGERIA
District:
Village:
Description.: MANILLAS (7)


for the majority.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District: Lavapura State
Village:
Description.: RINGS LEAD (4)
Mitchiner's The History and Coinage of South

East Asia (1998, p.28+) presents examples of
these interupted rings from South India through
Japan, including several in lead from South East
Asia, and two moulds. He notes a find site of
Sawankhalok, Thailand, which was known to
have extensive trade with Majapahit. Another
lot was found in Java, core of the old Majapahit
Empire, where they are called kelok meaning
curved, and referred to as money. Wicks MM&T
(1992, p.167) quotes Wolters, "For trade
dealings in clothing and food Gulf of Thailand c.
1200 AD."
Opitz (page 286) dates them to the kingdom of

Dvarati; circa 550-1050 AD and others extend
this period to the Sukothai takeover circa 1270 No Picture 2
AD..
Country: AUSTRALIA
District:
Village:
Description.: GUM SPINIFEX
Description: A favoured trade item among the

Aborigines.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: HIGHLANDS
Village:
Description.: NOSE DISC SHELL
Description: This shell would have been traded

from the coast in the past and was a valued
trade item.

No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: HIGHLANDS
Village:
Description.: NOSE RING SHELL

1964 and 1973.
This item appears to be either a Papuan Gulf
earring, or a Sepik area shellring, which was
traded into the Highlands.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

1964 and 1973.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

1964 and 1973.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: SAGO BLADE STONE

1964 and 1973.
Worked stone items, such as this, were highly

valued and readily accepted in trade.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING CLAMSHELL (called

Poata)
Sydney.

money in the Solomons. They are also known
as poata keoro, bakiha keoro and takula..

Squamosa shells.

fossilised T.Gigas and T. Squamosa clamshells;
Solomon islands as the chief barter currency. No Picture 2
grounds, for community fish and turtle drives
ancestors as an irreversible prestation,l and
broken near shrines to mark transfer of land
rights or the movement of people. These rings
are commonly found at shrines of all kinds
and can be found as large accumulations of

broken rings at probable garden shrines
District: NORTH MALAITA
Village: Fataleka
Description.: SHELLSTRING SHELL ON CANE

called Barafa or Barafe
Sydney in 1980.
Called Barafa (circle fence).
It is worn as a coil passed over the head to

hang around the neck.
Some islanders say it was worn only by men,
others say it was worn by girls particularly for
marriage.
It is a wearable ornament and a money

denomination.
No Picture 2
District: MALAITA
Village:
Description.: DAFI PEARLSHELL CRESCENT

Sydney.
This Dafi pearlshell pendant was a highly valued

ornament through some areas of the Solomons.
Some have the tortoiseshell frigate bird emblem
as a further decoration.
District: North America
Village:
Description.: PURSE BEADED
Description: #294 Original card on item states

"Made by Crossbreed Chippewa . 1882".
This rare item shows trade beads sewn to a

purse of extremely fine leather. It is interesting
to see that the clockface design has no 7
o'clock.
Showing trade beads and European designs

incorporated into an Indian pouch.
No Picture 2
Country: MALAYSIA
District: SARAWAK
Village:
Description.: TOBACCO BOX BRASS
Description: Brass tobacco box of Brunei

(obtained from Sarawak).
This is extremely similar to the illustration in Fig

114 page 259 of Quiggins which is noted as
having an exchange value of 10 span of
tobacco.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: INGOT BULLET MONEY SILVER (2

BAHT)
Description: 19th century silver coin of Siam.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village: Ban Chiang
Description.: ARMRING BRONZE ANCIENT THIN
Some of these bronze bangles have been dated

to 3600BC-2900Bc and others to the Middle
Period 900BC - 300BC
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village: Ban Chiang
Description.: ARMRING BRONZE ANCIENT

THICK
Some of these bronze bangles have been dated

to 3600BC-2900Bc and others to the Middle
Period 900BC - 300BC
No Picture 2
Country: ETRURIA
District:
Village:
Description.: RING BRONZE COIL


Country: ETHIOPA
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE FINE COPPER RINGS
See Quiggin Page 59.

Strings of copper beads are currency both
above and
below Stanley Falls.
Any item of copper was monetary throughout
much of Africa.
No Picture 2
Country: Portuguese East Africa
District:
Village:
Description.: ARMRING LOBOLO
Description: From Paul Dillingham, USA.
Called Lobolo.
See Quiggins page 105 Fig 39.

A monetary copper armring and a standard of
value in the area.
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: BEADS
No Picture 2
Country: MEXICO
District: AZTEC
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE COPPER RINGS AZTEC
Excavated from an Aztec site. Rare.
A valuable money/trade item.
No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
District: LORD HOWE ISLAND
Village:
Description.: STONE DISC HOLED
Description: Found on Lord Howe Island in

1964.
Possible a natural phenomena. If man-made

possibly a pendant.
No Picture 2
District: SAVANNAH
Village:
Description.: ARMRING TRADE - COPPER WIRE
Excavated from a Savannah site - See page 143

of Tribes that slumber.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District: MEO HILL TRIBES
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE SILVER TUBES
Necklace of silver tubes used as a wearable

item of money.
No Picture 2
Country: CAROLINE ISLANDS
District: PONAPE ISLAND
Village:
Description.: WHALE TOOTH THIN (GIBBS)

USA.
A highly valued item throughout the Pacific.
No Picture 2
Country: YAP
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE COCONUT DISCS

called sek or sak
See Quiggins page140 .

"Strings are made on Truk in the Central
Carolines of a special
coconut which has no kernel, called losil (Petri,
shell-money, Gil- 1936, p. 203), and the strings
are called sek or sak. These
we their estimation to their attractive
appearance, and as they are tedious and
irksome to
make they are not very common, and are highly
valued and traded from island to island. They
find their way to Yap and take part in the inter-
insular trade with the Pelews. Normally the
strings are of small disks, no larger than those
of shell,"
The above is a direct quote from Quiggins - see
page 140. No Picture 2
C No: C.0356 (a-o) Acq Date: 8006
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: NECKLACES SHELLSTRING SEPIK

(15)
Description: A number of money shellstrings
from the Sepik area made mainly of tiny conus
shells which have been ground to shape,
These are from the important Bruce Miller

Collection sold at auction in 1980.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: SHELL MELO PENDANT BAILER

SHELL #649
Description: From the Sepik Area.

No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
District: Mungeranie, N.E. of Lake Eyre, South
Australai
Village: Wonkonguru Tribe
Description.: MAGIC STONES (4-a,b,c,d)
Description: Actually collected by George

Aiston.
The Gypsum crystal still has traces of ocre from

ceremonies.
McCarthy, in Trade in Aboriginal Australia, uses

Aiston as his reference re trade of theae magic
stones.
George Aiston (1879-1943) developed an
interest in ethnography during his posting to
the west coast of South Australia following his
return from the Boer War. This interest
deepened after his transfer to Mungeranie, on
the Birdsville Track, and he began documenting
material culture processes with photography,
and gathered ethnographic and stone tool
collections for museums and private collectors
following his retirement from the police force No Picture 2
ca. 1913, he established a small museum at his
Birdsville Track general store at Mulka, south of
Mungeranie. He supplied most of the text and
illustrations for Savage Life in Central Australia
(Macmillan, London), co-authored with George
Horne 1924. Aistons collecting interests
extended to guns, edged weapons and armour,
which is largely preserved at the South
Australian Museum with his Australian material.
Country: PERU
District:
Village:
Description.: AXEBLADE COPPER
Description: Heather Lechtman (1986) argues

that arsenic bronze was in use in Northern Peru
by the fourth century AD. By the mid 1400s it
had spread through the areas indentified today
as Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. Finally
metallic money, in the form of copper axe
blades and tokens, appeared in Ecuador by AD
100 but quickly spread throughout South,
Central and Middle America.
This example is from the Pery/Ecuador area and
dates ftom 800 AD to 1400 AD.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: HIGHLANDS
Village:
Description.: AXE HAFTED HIGHLAND

MARRIAGE
Description: Marriage Axe from the New Guinea
Highlands. Ex Robin Leahy, wife of Richard
Leahy (son of Mick Leahy)
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Siassi
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING TROCHUS
Description: Decorated shellring ex Robin Leahy,

wife of Richard Leahy (son of Mick Leahy).
These trochus shell armrings were a standard

monetary valuable in this area and have edge
engravings that are said to be clan signs.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Kukukuku Wonenara Area
Village: Wonenara
Description.: SALT BLOCK IN BINDINGS

Kukukuku
Sydney.
Salt Money of the Baruya people.

Before the white mans arrival the Baruya were
well known beyond their own frontiers as
manufacturers of salt. (Potassium salt made
from the ashes of tall cane known as Job's
tears). In fact, it was one of these bars of salt
that led Jim Sinclair to mount the expedition to
discover the Baruya. Prior to 1951 the Baruya
had never seen a white person. The Baruya had
always traded their salt with other
tribes for stone adzes, bark capes and black
palm wood (from which they made their tools
and bows).
A rare and true money.

No Picture 2
The Baruya were cannibals, and they ate their
enemies, and not only the most valiant enemy
warriors killed in battle. They would cut off the
arms and legs of a certain number of bodies
fallen on the battlefield, or of women and
children they had killed, and they would eat the
limbs either on the way back, if the expedition
had taken them far from home, or they would
take them to the village and cook them in pits,
like pigs.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING TE COWRIE
Description: Used in prestations in the Te

Ceremony.
Collected by Dr P Brennan a noted

anthropologist and author.
An important wearable trade/money item of the

area.
A standard item of value and payment in the Te
Exchange Ceremony of the Enga people.
The Enga name is Lyenge and its value was

equal to one large pig. It was worn by men or
women for Sing-Sings, etc.
The cowrie shell was also one of the main

money items throughout New Guinea.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING TE NASSA
Description: Collected by Dr P Brennan a noted

area.
The Enga name was Angala Lyenge and its

value was one smaller pig. These were worn
only by women, tightly around the neck for
weddings, sing-sings, etc. Refer Quiggins p173,
fig69.
As well as in the Highlands the nassa shell was
also one of the main money items in the
Northern coastal area of New Guinea. They
were used for strictly items of money and also
wearable valuables.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: HEADBAND NASSA SHELL TE
Description: Collected by Dr P Brennan a noted


area.
Exchange Ceremony of the Enga people.
The Enga name is Angala Lyenge and its value

was equal to one cassowary.
Worn mostly by men with large wigs for Sing-

Sings, etc. Made of nassa shells sewn on
possum skin.

money and also wearable valuables. No Picture 2
Country: MALAYSIA
District: SARAWAK
Village:
Description.: GONG BRONZE LARGE

No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village: WABAG

GREEN
Description: Obtained from Lawsons Tribal Art
Auctions, Sydney.
A nice quality stone bladed adze made by the

Highlands people in the Wabag area. The stone
blade can be rotated for use as either an adze
or as an axe.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Western Highlands
Village: TAMBUL VILLAGE
Description.: SHELLSTRING COWRIE ROPE

BLACK
Description: From Lawsons Tribal Art Auctions,
Sydney in 1980.
An old, long string of cowries from Tambul

Village of the Wea=stern Highlands.
A true money throughout most of New Guinea.
No Picture 2
District: NEW GEORGIA
Village:
Description.: BARAVA PLAQUE CLAMSHELL

FRETWORK
Description: The most complex clam shell
objects were barava (also called vinasari),
ornate openwork plaques created in the western
Solomon Islands. The designs on some barava
are geometric, but many include stylized human
figures interspersed with forms that resemble
faces, shown with spiral eyes and grinning
mouths filled with minute teeth. Barava appear
to have been associated with burial places and
were reportedly used to adorn structures
housing the skulls of prominent men, slain
enemies or placed on graves.
Collected by M L Clark, an American adventurer

who lived in the Solomons and travelled through
the Pacific in the early 1980s.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING BLANK
Description: Collected by M L Clark, an

American adventurer who lived in the Solomons
and travelled through the Pacific in the early
1980s
This is the centre of the blank left after the

shellring had been made.
No Picture 2
Village:
Description.: CORD SINNETT

1980s.
EXCLUSIVELY MADE FOR THE OCEAN GOING
CANOES (TEPUKE). VALUABLE TRADE ITEM.
A true money item as rolls of sinnet are units of
currency (Qiggin page 134) and payment for
the woman (Firth, 1936, pp6, 551-2).
No Picture 2
District: GUADALCANAL (EAST)
Village: MARAU
Description.: SHELLSTRING GUADALCANAL

1980s.
This money shellstring comes from Eastern

Guadalcanal.
No Picture 2
District: BOUGAINEVILLE (SOUTHERN)
Village: BUIN
Description.: SHELLSTRING BUIN CALLED

WEDA
1980s.
This is a money shell string called Weda and

comes from Buin on Bougainville Island in
Papua New Guinea. This region is also known as
Bougainville Province or the North Solomons.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING CENTRE CLAMSHELL

1980s.
This is the centre of clamshell left over after the

shellring has been carved from its outside.
No Picture 2
District: TIKOPIA
Village:
Description.: ROPE SINNETT TIKOPIA

1980s and obtained it onthe island of Tikopia.
Quiggins states, on page 7, that among the

Tikopians the 'payment for the woman ' consists
of certain conventional presents of wooden
bowls and rolls of sinnet, a formal equivalent to
her family for the loss of her services' (Firth,
1936, pp. 6, 551-2).
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE FLYING FOX TEETH

1980s
On this necklace the are combined with black
shell and red Romu shellmoney.
No Picture 2
District: ONTONG JAVA
Village:
Description.: NOSE ORNAMENT

TORTOISESHELL
1980s
District: MALAITA
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING FATHOM ROMU

(ALSO CALLED FIRAI)
Description: A fathom of money shellstring
called Romu (also called Firai).

Se Quiggin page 162
No Picture 2
District: EAST MALAITA
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING EAST MALAITA

1980s.
This is a shell money string from East Malaita.
No Picture 2
District: EAST MALAITA
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING EAST MALAITA

1980s.
This is a money shell string from East Malaita.
No Picture 2
District: MALAITA
Village: KWAIO
Description.: SHELLSTRING KOFU
Description: Collected by David Akin.
This very fine shell money is called Kofu and is

the main general purpose money in use by the
Kwaio who are the only people who make it.
I obtained this length, plus one other, from
David before the Kwaio Chiefs requested that he
sell no more kofu as all was needed for their
own use. Rare.
Dr David Akin currently is Managing Editor of

the Journal Comparative Studies in Society and
History and teaches at the University of
Michigan. He is contributing author to the
marvellous book Body Ornaments of Malaita,
Solomon Islands by Burt 2009. He is an
accomplished adventurer, anthropologist and
author.
I obtained these items, in the period 1981 to No Picture 2
1983, directly from David Akin who was working
with Kate Gillogly as Peace Corps workers in the
restricted Kwaio area of Malaita.
Some of the items are rare (not necessarily
valuable) and almost never seen.
District: MALAITA
Village: KWAIO
Description.: EAR STICKS PLAITED
Called 'au sakwalo and made by a Kwaio woman

called Moruka who is the daughter of 'Elota of
"'Elota's Story" (1978) by R M Keesing.
Moruka's photograph is on page 30 of the
book. (see attached photograph).

author.
I obtained these items, in the period 1981 to
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SEPIK
Village:
Description.: AXEBLADE STONE LONG

1964 and 1973.
No Picture 2
District:
Village: KWAIO
Description.: PYRITE BALL

1964 and 1973.
These are recorded as being traded to
Mendana's sailors in the late 1500s. The sailors
were under the mistaken imoression that these
were gold - but they are pyrites - fool's gold.
Unknown"
(2011) Leigh and Perry.
See C.0428.
No Picture 2
Village: Vuanga, Graciosa Bay
Description.: FEATHER ROLL Originally owned

by Joe Tanin, the village chief.
Description: Feather money, called tavau, is a
long belt of raffia with scales of glued pigeon
feathers arranged like roof tiles whose front
edges are glued with fifty to sixty thousand
small feathers of the red sugarbird. Much time
was spent in producing this high-ranking
prestige object, which was given as payment for
large acquisitions and used to purchase turtles,
canoes or pigs.
The number of feather money rolls remained
relatively constant for decades: some were lost
or were destroyed by insects, others were newly
produced. Enough was always available when a
young man wanted to marry. If he did not have
it himself he borrowed it from relatives. The
bride''s parents used the feather money they
received to marry a son or to grant male
relatives a feather money credit. Thus the
feather money united the population of the
entire island. Every family was made up of
lenders and borrowers.
Around 1980, feather money was abolished and
its use was forbidden. What could not be sold
rotted away on the beach as worthless. Today a
man who wants to marry has to provide the
bride price in cash which in 1990 amounted to
about 800 Swiss francs. Such an amount is
difficult to find on an island where there is
hardly any paid work. The money no longer
flows in a closed circuit, but is often spent by
the bride's parents on foreign luxury articles
which means that their son is faced with the
problem of how he is to find the money for a
wedding. Originally owned by Joe Tanin the
District: TIKOPIA
Village:
Description.: FISHHOOK SHELL TIKOPIA

1980s
Previously owned by John Tope who obtained it
from his father.. The marks on the side are said
to be for the number of fish caught.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: NOSESTICK TURTLEBONE

1980s. A valued trade item.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: NOSESTICK PEARLSHELL

W/CONTAINER
1980s.
A high value trade item and a lovely wearable
(if you have the nose for it).
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: BARK CLOTH SANTA CRUZ
Description: A very old example of barkcloth

from Santa Cruz.
The first mention of bark cloth and its use in the
Santa Cruz Islands appears in works by Joest
(1897: 99) and Coombe (1911: 186) as
clothing for women, by Speiser (1916: 158,
167, fig. 1; 1924: tables 2, 6, 66 and 69) as an
apron for men and by Dillon (according to
Graebner 1909: 86) and SPeiser (1916: 161
and fig. 4) as headwear for men. Its use as a
burial shroud was described by Markham
according to Graebner 1909: 15), and as an
object of value in the
exchange of gifts by Firth (1957: 556-57 and
fig. 13).
No Picture 2
Village:
Description.: CHARM NOMBA EX FEATHER ROLL
Description: Called nomba, nombue and nopo.
The charm is added to the Feather Roll to add

Mana. Sometimes the charm is notched which is
said to record a record or tally of fornication.
No Picture 2
Village:
Description.: FEATHER STICK

1980s.
A minor trade item.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: COWRIES IMITATION LEAD (2)
Description: said to have been used as a

money. Natural cowries were used as a money
and lead was used to manufacture tokens.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: INGOT TOK NAN SILVER C/STAMP

(1615) the C''ieng money was replaced by Tok
earliest toks (Tok C''iengmai) are fine silver with
toks of C''iengmai, are hollow silver shells with
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: INGOT KA KIM BASE METAL

(ZINC ?)
counterstamped with the denomination (4
baht) , Dynasty name and city name. From as
early as the 13th century.
See opitz p171.
Zinc pieces are rare.
Leaf, Line, Tok, Pak Chee (Flower), and Chiang No Picture 2
(Ka Kim) monies.
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: INGOT CHIENG SEN BARS (3)
Description: Ingot Money Siam. Named from

the city name.
No Picture 2
C No: C.0395c Acq Date: 8012
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: INGOT CHIENG SEN BARS (3)
Description: Ingot Money Siam. Named from

the city name.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: INGOT LEECH MONEY SILVER
Description: LAOS, LANCHANG, c. 1353-1571

money sometimes called "leech money"
because it resembles a leech found in Thailand.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: INGOT TOK NAN C/STAMP SILVER

Country: SIAM
Village:
Description.: INGOT BOAT MONEY BRONZE (5:a

-e)

shape.
being.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description: The Kingdom of Laan Chang (Laos

and northeast Thailand) used silver tiger-tongue
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: INGOT TOK NAN SILVER

Country: FIJI
District:
Village:

.


marriage.

See Opitz page 379.
No Picture 2
District: Malaita
Village: KWAIO
Description: Called -Ruu Ni Daribatana - which

translates as - Tapa of Wealth - made from
pounded Banyan tree bark. and is used to store
the kofu bata (shell money) of the Kwaio.
Collected by David Akin.

author.
restricted Kwaio area of Malaita. No Picture 2
District: Malaita
Village: Kwaio
Description.: SHELL DISCS SONA
These are called Sona and are used for

decorating the tops of large valuables. They are
only made in Kwaio.

author.
Some of the items are rare (not necessarily No Picture 2
District: Malaita
Village: Kwaio
Description.: COMB WOOD AND FIBRE
Kwaio iten called - Komo Odoodo-. This is an

older used one. which was made by 'Otolo'u of
Kwaina'isi area in the very middle bush behind
Sinalaagu and 'Oloburl Harbours.. Worn only by
men. This style of comb is called fufu.

author.
with Kate Gillogly as Peace Corps workers in the No Picture 2
District: BELONA ISLAND
Village:
Description: This is an ancient blade unearthed

in a food garden after the 1979 cyclone.
No Picture 2
District: MAKIRA
Village: AROSI AREA
Description.: FISHHOOK SHELL GOLDLIP

(BROKEN)
1980s.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING UNFINISHED HOW

TO MAKE
1980s.
This is an unfinished string of their shell money.

It still requires final grinding to size and
polishing. At oresent some of the shell has been
ground to size but it is dull and unpolished.
No Picture 2
District: BELONA
Village:
Description: An ancient item.

Unearthed in a food garden after the 1979
cyclone.

No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
District: Northern Territory
Village: Probably the Gurindji People
Description.: AXEBLADE STONE GREEN
Description: Collected by Bruce Langford-Smith

near an Aboriginal burial ground near Chicken
Hole Stock Camp, Pigeon Hole Station, Victoria
River Downs. No similar stone in the area.
No Picture 2
Country: YAP
District:
Village:
Description.: STONE MONEY
Description: Ex Christies East Auctions, NY, USA
This item is listed as #111 in Cora Lee

Gillilland''s 1975 book on Yap Stones. It is also
pictured on page 74 of Oceanic and Indonesian
Art by Harry Beran & Oceanic Art Society.
Probably the most famous of all types of

Primitive Money - the Yap Stone Money.
This item has very good provenance: presented

by Chief Roupon to the Catholic priest T
Kurosawa in the early 20th century, thence to a
Japanese numismatist, then to Howard D Gibbs,
then to Neil Kent Becker (founder of the
IPOCMC) and then, through Christies East
Auctions New York, to me.
The largest stone is round. It lies on the ground No Picture 2

and has a diameter of 3.6 metres, is 33 cm
thick and weighs several tons. This one is
15cms in diameter.
Quarried by the Yapese on the island of Palau

and then trandported to Yap for use as money.
Country: EGYPT
District:
Village:
Description.: SCARAB
Description: Plato (424- 348 BC) seems to be

referring to scarabs when he wrote - engraved
stones.
Scarabs were popular amulets and impression

seals and, although primarily amulets, they
were also inscribed for use as personal or
administrative seals or were incorporated into
jewelry. Some scarabs were apparently created
for political or diplomatic purposes to
commemorate or advertise royal achievements.
By the early New Kingdom, heart scarabs had
become part of the battery of amulets
protecting mummies.
From the middle Bronze Age, other ancient

peoples of the Mediterranean and the Middle
East imported scarabs from Egypt
Country: EGYPT
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLS (3) AMULETS Polinices

Mamilla
Description: Thse have beern excavated from
Pre-Dynatic graves in Egypt and date to about
5000 BC.
They are probably of the Faiyum A culture and

the shells are Polinices Mamilla.
Shells were a popular trade item inAncient

Egypt.
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: RINGS COPPER MITAKO
Description: Many entries in Quiggins.

In Manyanga (in what is now known as
Tanzania) the currency
was in copper ingots, These were traded up and
down the
river by the Bateke and Bayanzi and by the
Bangala farther north.
But they soon gave way before the mitako,
which became not only the currency but also
the official money of the Congo Free State.
A true money and currency.

Originally the mitako were merely short lengths
of copper (cf. PL i, Fig. 4), but rings were
handier for transport and became the
popular jform, varying in thickness, in weight,
and in size, sometimes
single, sometimes interlinked, sometimes in
bunches, sometimes No Picture 2
elaborately laced in bundles with cane, all
formerly of copper, but
later of imported brass (PL 2, Fig. i).
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: COPPER WIRES CHEETEM
Description: Consists of nine to thirteen strands

of fine coppr wire. Valued 8 to the penny in
1800s and 3 to the penny in 1920. See
Johansson page 43-44 and Quigging page 88.
No Picture 2
Country: NIGERIA
District:
Village:
Description.: MANILLA PRINCE
Description: Very old but not as large as that

shown in illustration p90 Fig 27 Quiggin.
Simply a smaller manilla than a King Manilla.

Opitz gives them a value of 50 ordinary
manillas.
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: TOOTH
Description: Unidentified
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Was excavated.
As Quiggins Fig 34 page 98.
No Picture 2
Country: MEXICO
District: Guerrero
Village: Mezcala People
Description.: JADE HUMAN FIGURE SMALL

AZTEC
he was sending to King Charles that: ''''each
stone is worth two loads of gold''''.
No Picture 2
Country: MEXICO
District: AZTEC
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE SHELL STONE

OBSIDIAN AZTEC
Description: A necklace made up from beads
excavated from Aztec sites dating back to
between the 14th to 16th Centuries.
A valuable wearable money necklace which

includes highly valued items.
No Picture 2
Country: MEXICO
District: AZTEC
Village:
Description.: AXEBLADE TAU COPPER
Description: OAXACA, stylised copper model of

axe or hoe blade. A currency which circulated in
Oaxaca in early post-Columbian times.
No Picture 2
Village:
Description.: ADZEBLADE CLAMSHELL LARGE

CALLED TAKI HAPUE
Description: Large clamshell adzeblade called
Taki Hapue.
Similar to British Museum item Museum number

Oc1944,02.1204
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE TO UBA CONUS
Description: See Quiggins pages 140 and 142.

It is illustrated in Quiggins Fig 53.
The true name isTe Uba.
Quiggins states 'To-uba is the name of a very
rare and attractive type of Conus string from
the Gilberts, formerly used as currency. The
strings are made of Conus eburneus apices of
various sizes from inch to over i inch in
diameter, and may be of girdle, necklace (Fig.
53) or only arm-band length. The disks are not
strung like ordinary Conus tips through the
central hole, but are drilled at the projecting
edge of the spiral, and bound on to a cord so
close together that the circles overlap'.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: East Sepik
Village: ARAPESH PEOPLE
Description: A clamshell armring said to be from

the Arapesh people of the Sepik area.
No Picture 2
Country: YAP
District:
Village:
Description: This item is called yar nu betchrek

and is more valuable than the yar nu au. These
are made from a single pearlshell and, to the
hinge of the shells, is attached a stiff loop of
kaya twine which serves as a handle. These
shells are never used as ornaments, they are
money pure and simple.
They are valued on size with a shell of diameter
of an average hands length being about equal in
value to one entire set of seven yar nu au. The
shells may be trimmed along the sides, but the
thin edge facing the hinge must be always left
intactto mutilate this edge would lower its
value as the boring of a hole in a coin is in our
currencythe thin outer edge is always left in its
natural state, no matter how chipped and
ragged.
They are classed as being womens money just
as the stone money is mens. SHELL MONEY IS No Picture 2
used on Yap to purchase land, make war
payments, pay bride price, pay the mispil
(mistress in common) and as part of funeral
ceremonies. Shell money can be used to
accompany an apology for some transgression,
not to buy forgiveness but to physically
represent the apology.
Ex Jess Peters, USA.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village: MOUNT HAGEN
Description.: BIRD OF PARADISE SKIN

FEATHERS
Auctions in 1981.
In 1957 Australian zoologists discovered that

New Guinea tribes had exported bird of paradise
plumed skins for centuries and that among
those visiting the island, as long ago as 1000
BC, had been traders from Phoenicia in the
Middle East. Another significant discovery was
that the tribespeople used to preserve the skins
for export by sealing them in myrrh, molding
them into an egg shape, and wrapping this in
burned banana leaves, a procedure that tallies
almost exactly with the mythical bird''''s
reputed treatment of its destroyed nest.
Perhaps most significant of all is the fact that
the brilliantly colored males of Count Raggi''''s
Bird of Paradise are adorned with cascades of
scarlet feathers that, during their courtship No Picture 2
dance, they repeatedly
raise aloft, while quivering intensely, a spectacle
reminiscent of the phoenix dancing in its
burning nest. On reaching the Middle East,
descriptions of this spectacle, combined with
the egg-like parcels of skins, may well have
been sufficient to inspire the myth of the
phoenix.
Extremely highly valued throughout New
Guinea.
District: Malaita
Village: KWAIO
Description.: SHELLSTRING RED BATA CALLED

NENEMO
Description: Obtained from David Akin.
A string of red Bata type shellmoney called

Nenemo with porpoise teeth.

author.
Some of the items are rare (not necessarily No Picture 2

District: Malaita
Village: KWAIO
Description.: STAFF DECORATED -FOU-
This ceremonial staff was made specifically for

me by the Kwaio people. These staffs have been
known by a number of names including Fou,
Wari Hau, or Hau Aano Rereo. The original had,
as a head, a round stone of pyrites that was
found in mountain streams. They were among
the first specific items to be recorded traded to
Mendanas men in the 1530s (they thought the
pyrites ball to be gold). The staffs were highly
valued by the Are Are people of the time and
were a standard valuable carried by men while
collecting blood bounties. They were a
ceremonial ornament of executioners. Mendana
himself mentions these clubs.
For the pyrite ball itself see C0384 and C0453.
Dr David Akin currently is Managing Editor of No Picture 2

author.
with Kate Gillogly
as Peace Corps workers in the restricted Kwaio
area of Malaita.

District: Malaita
Village: Kwaio
Description.: NECKLACE PIGTEETH/SHELL

NENEMO
From the pagan Kwaio people of Malaita. It is

called Nifi''e Bou (pig tooth) and the shell
money on it is called ''Ee''eeba. It is considered
to be low quality shell money from Langa Langa
All of the teeth comefrom mortuary feasts
(Fonuna). It is more valuable than the white
bata shell money. It is considered to be a poor
form of Midi Midi shell money.

author. No Picture 2
District: Malaita
Village: KWAIO
Description.: PIG TUSKS (2)
Pig tusks - a minor trade item used in

decoration.

author.
valuable) and almost never seen. No Picture 2
District: Malaita
Village: KWAIO
Description.: BALA TORTOISESHELL DIVIDER

FOR SHELLSTRING VALUABLES
The Kwaio People of North Malaita use

tortoiseshell dividers called bala to separate
their custom multiple shell money strings. Low
value multiple shell strings have a simple plain
tortoiseshell bar with hooks at each end (the
hooks represent frigate birds and these bala are
called balaodoodo) for separation but high value
shell strings have ornately carved bala. These
shellstrings are still used for Bride Price,
Mortuary Feasts, Compensation payments and
the like.
This bala is very old example which had been
passed down, from father to son, shows a bird
shape and is called balasisifiu. It is a lovely
work of art with a nice use patina (one wing is
broken in distant past).
author.
Some of the items are rare and almost never
seen.
District: Malaita
Village: Kwaio
Description.: SHELLSTRING FINE WHITE AFI
Description: This very fine white shell money

was made by the Kwaio peopleand is called Afi
Afi Utafunu.
Obtained from David Akin.

author.
No Picture 2
Some of these items are rare (not necessarily
District:
Village:
Description.: TURMERIC

1980s.
Used by mixing with coconut oil and applying to

skin, coth and valuables.
A necessary use item with a ready exchane

capability.
In custom leaf container.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING BLACK SEEDS

1980s.
This is an old string of black seeds of a type

used in the famous Tafuliae.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE FLYING FOX JAWS

1980s
Old men who had worked on Fijian plantations
long ago brought back knowledge of them as
money there.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING PURPLE BIRUAN

1980s.
See Quiggins Plate 10 #4 and page 161.
called purple Biruan this is a rare valuable

shellstring
No Picture 2
District:
Village: SAVO
Description.: FISHHOOK SHELL SAVO

1980s.
No Picture 2
Village:
Description.: SHELL PENDANT CLAMSHELL

LAONASSI OR SA'ELA'O
Description: Called a Laonassi or a Sa'ela'o.
It is an old item collected by M L Clark, an

1980s.
An important wearable valuable.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELL RINGS (SMALL) CONUS

KOME (24)
1980s.
A shell money of small diameter shell rings
called Kome.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING WHITE KAKADU (or

KAKANDU)
Description: 2 FATHOMS-11 FEET WHITE /
BLACK
Called Kakadu or Kakandu.
This is a long (two fathoms or eleven feet long)

of the standard white money shellstring of the
Solomons.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING GRAY

1980s.
This grey coloured money shellstring was used

as a money by the Kwaio people who call it
Mamalakuai. It is made by and traded from the
Langalanga people who call it Dala. It is made
from a shell found among the Mangrove roots.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: COCONUT DISC STRING CALLED

NIU
1980s.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: CLUB HAFTED STONE HEAD

BELLONA
Description: Very old stone head - hafting is
later (20th Century).

A similar one is in the University of Queensland

Anthropology Museum and is noted as fighting,
currency, trade.
A valued item.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING KOME LARGE

1980s.
A shell money of larger diameter shell rings

called Kome.
No Picture 2
Country: GHANA
District: ASHANTI PEOPLE
Village:
Description.: WEIGHT ASHANTI BRASS
A very old gold weight of the Ashanti people. It

is in the shape of a king's crown.
They were true weights and used to weigh gold,

gems and te like but always, because of the
metal content, had a monetary/trade value.
No Picture 2
Country: GHANA
Village:
A very old gold weight of the Ashanti people. It

is in the shape of a king's crown.

No Picture 2
Country: GHANA
Village:
No Picture 2
Country: CENTRAL AMERICA
District:
Village:
Description.: COCOA BEANS
In use as money in Central America as late as

the 20th century.
No Picture 2
Country: MEXICO
District: AZTEC
Village:
Description.: BEAD JADE
Description: Ex Gibb's Collection. Taken from

his personal bead board by Paul Dillingham in
1974.
No Picture 2
Country: NIGERIA
District:
Village:
Description.: MANILLA KING
Description: Refer illustration p90 Fig 27

Quiggin.
This example was excavated during road-works.
An extremely high value item of money. Opitz

quotes as worth 100 ordinary manillas.
The term king is a European term - not African.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM/LAOS
District:
Village:
Description.: WEIGHT -ELEPHANT- 3-4 GRAM
Description: Obtained from Scott Semans, USA.



as a money...
No Picture 2
Country: ENGLAND
District:
Village:
Description.: COAL MONEY

BEST OF 3 FROM LYMAN MUSEUM,
CONNECTICUT
No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
District:
Village:
Description.: CYLCON STONE (YURDA)
Description: Cylcons are earlier than churingas.

There is no certain ways to date individual
cylcons. The oldest cylcon/message stone found
in a dateable archaeological context is about
20,000 years old. The simple line motifs of the
oldest cylcons represent the earliest art of the
Aborigines, from a very early period of
occupation. In Australian nomenclature this is
the colonizing period, or early Stone Age, ca.
50,000/40,000-3,000 BC. With the earliest rock
-carvings and -paintings, the cylcons represent
the oldest form of communication and art; and
they represent the oldest religion still observed.
Only 2 Aborigines have been able to
communicate their name of the cylcons: Yurda,
and Wommagnaragnara (Heart of the snake),
respectively. Other uses as tallies are possible,
such as counting of dead people, warriors,
emus, measures of nardo seeds, or mapping No Picture 2
purposes counting day-marches in various
directions. Later the use could also change to
other magic rituals, some involving the chipping
off smaller flakes, and the practical use for
pounding and crushing. Much more research is
needed before the cylcons'' real age and
significance can be properly understood and
appreciated. The term cylcon is derived from
the title of R. Ethridge''s publication: The
Cylindro-conical and Stone Implements of
Western New South Wales and their
significance. Ethnological Series No. 2, Memoirs
of the Geological Survey of New South Wales,
1916:1-41.
District:
Village: KWAIO
Description.: PYRITE BALL OLD

1980s
These are recorded as being traded to
Mendana's sailors in the late 1500s. The sailors
were under the mistaken imoression that these
were gold - but they are pyrites - fool's gold.
See C.0428.
No Picture 2
District: Guadalcanal
Village: Marau Lagoon Area
Description.: SHELLSTRING VULU (ALSO

CALLED PAKU OR HA'A)
1980s.
See Quiggins page 162 and Plate 10 No.7.
This shellstring is rare.
Quiggin advises that In 1908 District

Comissioner DC M Woodford reported in Man 43
that he collected some of this near Mt tatuve.
He advised that this money was already
obsolete then. He advised that one fathom was
called Paku. The sample that he collected is in
the British Museum.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE HUMAN TEETH/SHELL

1980s.
Called uma ana lifa ngwae. A full necklace of
teeth was given to John Renton before 1875
apparently as a sign of protection.. The teeth
normally came from people who had been
eaten.
No Picture 2
District:
Village: ARE ARE PEOPLE
Description.: AXE HAFTED STONE BLADE
Description: Claimed to be 100 years old

(doubtful).
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: ADZEBLADE STONE QUARTZ
Description: A crudely made stone adzeblade

made from a quartz-like or flint material.
No Picture 2
Village:

1980s.
Called Bareke or Mbariki or Ukeana.
These have been dated to a period prior to

1600 AD. by Shankar Aswani and Peter
Sheppard (2003).
It would be made of Tridacna Squamosa shell

and was a very highly valued shell ring. These
were the oldest type of Roviana exchange
medium and were mainly used in matters of
high importance and shrines in Roviana contain
nearby Simbo these shell rings are regarded as
being alive and when they die (are broken ?) No Picture 2
similar belief is held on New Georgia.
In Roviana, Bareke were principally used for

land fertility rites and access, as priestly
insignia and in ritual transfer of land rights.
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING TAFULIAE
Description: Obtained directly from an islander

in 1981.
This is probably one of the best known

shellstrings of the Solomons. It is also one of
themost valuable.
This is called a Tafuliae and consists of ten

strings of shell money, each of about 2.6 metres
long. It is housed in its own packing material of
a bark mat.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: CHIMBU
Village:
Description.: AXE HAFTED STONE
Description: Ex Lawsons Tribal Art Auctions,

Sydney.
Marriage axe of the Chimbu people.
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
Village:
Description.: ARMRING WHITE METAL
Description: Has Arabic inscription - possibly a

quotation from the Koran. A Manilla Style
Monetary Bracelet
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District: North West Africa
Village:
Description.: NECKRING METAL
Description: A copper neckring with splayed

ends, this ring would have been worn by a slave
or a woman. It has not been opened and, with
the regular tribal raids between villages at the
time, it is possible that it was taken as spoils of
war after decapitating the wearer.
No Picture 2
District: Malaita
Village: Kwaio
Description.: DRILL KWAIO WITH STONE TIP
These are different to the normal drill. They

have no wooden bar at the bottom of the string
loop.
Obtained from David Akin who was, at the time,

living with the Kwaio people.

author.
1983, directly from David Akin who was working No Picture 2
Village:
Description.: CHARM NOMBA CROSS

No Picture 2
District: NGELA ISLAND
Village:
Description.: FISHHOOK SHELL NGELA

FLORIDA
1980s.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: ADZEBLADE STONE LONG
Description: Nicely made stone adzeblade.

No Picture 2
Village:
Description.: BAG STRING/COIX SEEDS
Description: The Coix Seeds (or Job's Tears)

ornamentation on this string bag are a common
method of decorating in the area and often
seem to be used in place of the tiny shell disc
beads.
of the IPOCMC).
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELL MITRE GROUND - LIGOMO

1980s.
Cut Spiral Terebra Shells.
These were called Ligomo and Rango..
They were important and valued charms and

valuables that were used for war and sailing
expeditions. They were also used to decorate
skull shrines of important men where they
represented spirits of dead chiefs and were
used by living chiefs to communicate with their
dead ancestors, either to placate them or to
seek their aid..
This example came from a gravesite in the No Picture 2

Western Solomons.
District: GUADALCANAL WEST
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE POSSUM TEETH

1980s.
An item with money/trade value.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: BARAVA CLAMSHELL CANOE

ORNAMENT
Description: This is a Barava (also called
vinasari) made of clamshell. They were placed
in shrines and on graves with the skull of the
deceased. They were also used as part of a
vovoso, a powerful charm carried in war canoes
during head hunting expeditions to protect the
crew and ensure success.

No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE FISHTEETH WITH

KWAIO SHELLMONEY BEADS
valued in trade.
Thought to be from kingfish
see Quiggin page 126: Porpoise, cuscus, bat
and fish teeth are often bound on to cord,
projecting at intervals, and such bands may be
ornaments or currency.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE PENDANT CONUS -ON

KE SHELLMONEY STRING-
1980s
No Picture 2
District: MALAITA
Village:
Description.: HEADBAND SIX SHELLSTRING

1980s.
A valued wearable item made from strings of
shell money.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: TORTOISESHELL ORNAMENT

CATERPILLAR
1980s
This old custom tortoiseshell ornament was

made to be affixed to the clamshell disc to
make a kap-kap called Tema.
No Picture 2
District: SANTA ANNA
Village:
Description.: SHELL COWRIE GOLDEN

1980s
Highly valued - especially in Fiji.
In the past, on the Fiji Islands, this shell, known

as "bulikula", was drilled at the ends and worn
on a string around the neck by chieftains as a
symbol of rank or privilege.
Has native twine through worm hole for

suspension as a pendant (?)
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING POATA OLD

1980s.
This is a very old example - probably a shrine or

grave offering.

as poata keoro, bakiha keoro and takula.

Squamosa shells.
No Picture 2
fossilised T.gigas and T. squamosa clamshells;
Solomon islands as the chief barter currency.
grounds, for community fish and turtle drives
ancestors
as an irreversible prestation,l and broken near

District: GUADALCANAL, MAKIRA, SANTA ANNA,
ETC.
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING EDGE TO EDGE

1980s.
This is an edge-to-edge Solomons shell money

string which was used in Guadalcanal, Makira,
Santa Anna, etc.
No Picture 2
District: MALAITA
Village:
Description.: BAG STRING WOVEN
Description: Woven string bag with a dog jaw

bone attached as decoration.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: PORPOISE TEETH (10)

1980s.
Porpoise teeth were a true money in the

Solomons and used in Beride Price, mortuary
payments and in general purchase and trade.
Frim the type of porpoise called Lobo.
No Picture 2
Country: Solomons
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING TINY EDGE-TO-

EDGE
Description: : From the collection of Neil Kent
This is a standard type of white money shell

string from the Solomons.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: TOBACCO STICKS (6)

1980s.
These sticks of tobacco were the normal

currency between the local Solomon Islander
and the European.
Many items could be purchased from the native

for this currency.
No Picture 2
District: Malaita
Village: KWAIO PEOPLE
Description.: TOBACCO NATIVE KWAIO
Description: Obtained from David Akin in 1981,

it is a roll of Kwaio native tobacco which is in its
normal custom protective leaf covering. It had
good trade value. It is in its protective leaf
covering.
He obtained it from a Kwaio man named Soia
Andi.

marvellous book Body Ornaments of
Malaita, Solomon Islands by Burt 2009. He
is an accomplished adventurer, anthropologist
and author.
District: Malaita
Description.: TOBACCO NATIVE KWAIO
Description: Obtained from David Akin in 1981,

it is a roll of Kwaio native tobacco which is in its
normal custom protective leaf covering. It had
good trade value. It is in its protective leaf
covering.
He obtained it from a Kwaio man named Soia
Andi.

author.
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: Armring Metal Spiked Fighting
A monetary weapon.
No Picture 2
Country: NIGERIA
District:
Village:
Description.: ARMRING
From the area of the Hausa, Fulani, Bidda
No Picture 2
Country: NIGERIA
District:
Village:
Description: Purchased from Scott Semans in

1981
No Picture 2
Country: MEXICO
District: MICHOACAN
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE MICHOACAN
A necklace made up from beads excavated from

Michoacan burial sites dating back to between
1200 and 1400.
The small beads are ceramic, the disc beads are

of red obsidian and the pendant of black
obsidian.
A valuable wearable money necklace which

includes highly valued items.
No Picture 2
Country: MEXICO
District:
Village:
Description.: AXEBLADE TAU COPPER WEDGE
OAXACA, stylised copper model of axe or hoe

blade. A currency which circulated in Oaxaca in
early post-Columbian times. Circulated from
1200 - 1600 AD.
No Picture 2
Country: MEXICO
District: YUCATAN
Village:
Description.: BELL COPPER YUCATAN
Well described in Taxay. Cogolludo, a Franciscan

valued by size.
This example is almost exactly like that
illustrated page 43 of Taxay.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MATTY ISLAND
Village:
Description.: CORD BLACK FIBRE
Description: Refer Quiggins p133

A highly valued cord.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Sepik East
Village: Yangoru
Description.: TALIPUN SHELL TURBO SHELL

BRIDEPRICE
Description: The treated and extensively
decorated shell of the green turban snail (Turbo
marmoratus) also served in the interior of New
Guinea as a means of payment that was chiefly
used for ritual payments.
The shells of the snails came from the north

coast of New Guinea, where the flesh of marine
animals was a much sought-after food. The
empty shells were sold to the Yangoru Boiken,
who lived further inland, where they were
treated and to which a mesh of rattan was
fastened. In the case of our piece this mesh
shows a spectacular mask attached to the
actual means of payment, the snail's shell. Only
after this treatment could the talipun circulate
as a means of payment.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Tanga Island
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING MULTIGROOVE
Description: called Amfat mil.
These multi grooved shellrings were worn as

armrings but had extremely high value as a
money item. McCarthy illustrated one which
would buy 500 pounds of sago in New Britain.
Rare.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: STONE HAMMER

1964 and 1973.

At 75mm long it is too small to be a sago

hammer. The slightly rounded front end is not
right for a pestle, so it is presumed to be a
hammerstone. It has been pecked to shape and
then polished. No matter what it is it would
have had good trade value.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING TROCHUS SMALL

1964 and 1973.
Called fai siare.
Worn by Kwaraae women of the Kwai District in

Malaita who wore several at once on the upper
arm. They were a standard armring through
much of the Solomons and had monetary and
trade value
No Picture 2
Trochus armrings have been excavated on
Guadalcanal and dated prior to the Lapita
Culture (1600BC to 500BC0..
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING UNFINISHED

1964 and 1973.
This is an unfinished string of their shell money.

It still requires final grinding to size and
polishing.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: Stone Anvil for making shell

money.
1964 and 1973.

A stone anvil used in the manufacture of shell

money.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: ADZEBLADE STONE (FLINT)
Description: A crude and ancient flint-like stone

adze.

No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MAPRIK
Village: KOBOIBUS
Description.: Shellring Blank Clam - Inner

Groove Part Finished
1964 and 1973.
A rare partly finished shellring.
A rare part-finished item. This is a part finished

shellring still connected to the blank. These
were cut out with bamboo, sand and water.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MAPRIK
Village: KOBOIBUS
Description.: SHELLRING BLANK-CLAMSHELL

Part Finished
1964 and 1973.
A rare part-finished item. This is the blank to

make a shellring before the cente is cut out.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: D'Entrecasteaux Islands - Massim
Village: DOBU ISLAND
Description.: LIME SPATULA BONE (probably

Whalebone)
Description: Collected by John Dixon in 1923-
26.
RARE. Harry Beran quotes Finsch who, in 1914,
stated them to be among the most valuable of
all possessions of chiefs and that a good canoe
could be obtained for one. They are called Bosu
or Potuma and are restricted to leading men.
John Willis Dixon, born on 31st March 1899,
was a school teacher who went to Dobu Island
in October 1923, as a teacher, and left in
January 1926 to become a religious Methodist
minister who returned to Salamo, as a
missionary, in January 1929. He married a
mission teacher, Olive Fielding, at Kiriwina in
1931 and, in 1949, he was offered the position
of State Secretary for Overseas Missions and
held this post until his death on 2nd January
1958.
During the 1923-24 period he collected a No Picture 2
number of artifacts from the locals and, in
1981, 1988 and 1989, I was fortunate to be
able to purchase some of these from his widow
Mrs Olive Dixon. Her name is listed in
Acknowledgements in Taim Bilong Masta
(1982) by Hank Nelson. The story of John Dixon
is presented in the booklet Papuan Islands
Pilgrimage (1988) by Jonathon T Dixon his
son.
Country: NEW GUINEA

26.
1958.
During the 1923-24 period he collected a
Acknowledgements in Taim Bilong Masta No Picture 2
son.
Country: NEW GUINEA

26.
1958.
son.
Country: NEW GUINEA

26.
1958.
son.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: ARMRING CONUS UNFINISHED

26.
1958.
son.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: ARMRING CONUS UNFINISHED

26.
1958.
son.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NECKLACE DOGA SAPI/CONUS

26.
1958.
son.
A rare Massim monetary artefact.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: ADZE HAFTED STEEL BLADE
Description: Collected by John Dixon in 1923 to

1926.
1958.
son.
In this case a steel blade had supplanted the

stone.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: CLUBHEAD STONE DISC

26.
1958.
son.
Of very high value. Ancient.
Possibly a large gabagaba traded from the

Torres Strait.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: TROBRIANDS - Massim
Description.: AXEBLADE STONE MASSIM BEKU

OR BENAM
26.
1958.
son.
important.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: SHELLSTRING WEALTH BELT RED

SAPI. Called Kaipwesi.
Description: This is a very high value Massim
custom shell belt called Kaipwesi.
Collected by John Dixon in 1923-26.
Similar to photograph on page 40 of The Kula A

Bronislaw Malinowski Centennial Exhibition at
Robert H Lowie Museum of Anthropology
California 1985.

of State Secretary for Overseas Missions and No Picture 2
1958.
son.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: SHELLSTRING WEALTH ROPE RED

SAPI
Description: This is a very high value Massim
custom valuable of large sapi-sapi discs on a
fibre rope.
Collected by John Dixon in 1923-1926.

1958.
number of artifacts from the locals and, in No Picture 2
son.
Country: NEW GUINEA

26.
1958.
son.
District:
Village:
Description.: FISHHOOK WOOD/SHELL/BONE

MAORI
A scarce Polynesian item.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: ARMBAND CONUS (SECTIONED)
Description: A nice item added to the collection

in 1984.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: ARMBAND COIX SEED

Possibly wrongly identified as it looks like
similar items from New Guinea.
No Picture 2
Village:
Description.: ARMBAND FIBRE/SHELLDISCS

Similar to illustration Refer fig 239 Ethnic

Jewellery and Adornment by Truus Daalder.
of the IPOCMC).
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING WHITE

Ex Jess Pteres, USA.
This is a standard money shellstring from the

Solomons.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING CLAMSHELL NARROW

Called Hokata, Bokolo or Tinete. Hokata is the

general name for armrings.
Hokata are the smallest and slimmest of the

shell valuables and can be made from either
clamshell or from Conus shells. This ring is
made of clamshell..
These were less valuable than the Poata and

were used in barter, marital rituals, as small
compensation transfers and were given to chiefs
by men for the sexual services of ritually
designated women.
No Picture 2
Country: JAPAN
District:
Village:
Description.: COIN RECTANGULAR SILVER

Ichibu Gin Tempo Period 1837-54
No Picture 2
District: GUADALCANALL
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE SHELLS GUADALCANAL
Description: A necklace of money shells

collected by M L Clark, an American adventurer
the Pacific in the early 1980s
No Picture 2
District:
Description.: NECKLACE SHELL SAFI KWAIO

1980s. He obtained it from David Akin noted
author and anthropologist.
It comes from the pagan Kwaio people of
Malaita. It is called Safi .
No Picture 2
District: GELA
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING CLAMSHELL Grooved

on outside
1980s.
This is a Poata the name of which now means

as poata keoro, bakiha keoro and takula. It is
unusual in that, although generally shaped like
the normal Poata, this example has a slight
inward groove on the outer edge.

Squamosa shells.
No Picture 2
mbakia,
Poata circulated widely throughout the Western

Solomons as a general currency. They were
used also to purchase ritual knowledge,

District: SOUTH MALAITA
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE HUMAN TEETH (31)

1980s
Called uma ana lifa ngwae. A similar necklace
was given to John Renton before 1875
eaten.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: COIX SEED/BONE EX FEATHER

ROLL
1980s.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: TOOLS TO MAKE FEATHER

PLATELETS (2 - a,b)
1980s
These are the custom tools to make the feather

platelets which go to make up the lovely feather
money rolls of Santa Cruz.
The tools are called nelo and metea
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: EARRING TORTOISESHELL

1980s.
A valued item of wearable money.
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District: RIFT VALLEY
Village:
Description.: AXEBLADE STONE RIFT VALLEY
Description: Acheulian, c. 500,000-200,000 BC,

handaxes. Made and used by homo erectus.
Possibly the first international trade item.

of the IPOCMC).
No Picture 2
Country: BANKS ISLANDS
District:
Village:
Description.: FEATHER -WETAPUP- ORNAMENT

Ex Schulman (Gibbs Collection)
A wearable decoration/money - see Quiggins

page 135.
No Picture 2
District: Malaita
Village: KWAIO


the like.
This bala has a five fish shape, is named Fai''a
and was made by a Kwaio woman named
Laete''esafi

the Journal Comparative Studies in Society and No Picture 2
author.
restricted Kwaio area of Malaita. Some of the
items are rare (not necessarily valuable) and
almost never seen.
District: Malaita
Village: KWAIO WEST


the like.
This bala is of a six double diamond shape, is
named founikwari''kwari and was made by a
Kwaio woman named laete''esafi.
It is also called langasi and sisifiu.

author.
1983, from David Akin who was working with
Kate Gillogly as Peace Corps workers in the
Some of the items are rare and almost never
seen.
District: Malaita
Village: KWAIO


the like.
This bala is of a bird shape, is named balasisifiu
Alasiabou.
The bala is also called i'a.

author.
items are rare
(not necessarily valuable) and almost never
seen.
C No: C.0529d Acq Date: 8202
District: Malaita
Village: KWAIO


the like.
This bala has a a large bird shape, is named
sisifiu and was made by a Kwaio woman named
'ita.

and author.
Village:
Description.: NOSE ORNAMENT

TORTOISESHELL
1980s
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SEPIK
Village:
Description.: Carved Wood frog
Description: Not a monetary item. A superbly

carved item as a fetish for fertility.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: BARAVA PLAQUE CLAMSHELL

FRETWORK
Description: The most complex clam shell
objects were barava (also called vinasari),
ornate openwork plaques created in the western
Solomon Islands. The designs on some barava
are geometric, but many include stylized human
figures interspersed with forms that resemble
faces, shown with spiral eyes and grinning
mouths filled with minute teeth. Barava appear
to have been associated with burial places and
were reportedly used to adorn structures
housing the skulls of prominent men, slain
enemies or placed on graves.

No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description: A crudely made stone adze from

the solomons.

No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE 4 PENDANTS
Description: : Collected by M L Clark, an

1980s.
Shell money necklace with four Laoniasi
pendants.
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLS OLIVE NZIMBU or SIMBO
Description: Taken from an old deteriorated

water bag.
Refer illustration p46 Fig4 Quiggin's.

of the IPOCMC).
Olive shells were an important trade item in the

area.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: CELT STONE
Description: Excavated. American Indian stone

celt. A trade item.
of the IPOCMC).
No Picture 2
Country: BORNEO
District:
Village:
Description.: CELT GREEN STONE
Description: Small adze - a trade item.

of the IPOCMC).
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: West New Britain Province
Village: Witu Island (formerly French Islands)
Description.: Shellring Double Conus Pendant

Bound With Red Orchid Vine
EX Jess Peters.
Chest ornament worn on a thin string by natives

of the French Islands (just North of New Britain)
and the North Coast of New Britain.
No Picture 2
Country: SOLOMONS
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING (2) SMALL

Incorrect name Tekaroro given by Neil- these
are Solomons shell money.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Kukukuku
Village:
Description.: Shell Ovula, Bones, Yellow Orchid

Stem
Description: The part egg cowrie was traded
from the coast and it, and the other items, were
probably used as a necklace.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: CHARM NOMBA EX FEATHER ROLL

No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: ARMRING COPPER HEAVY

WEAPON
Description: A weapon as well as monetary. The
equivalent of a flick knife. The ring separates
into a weapon.
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: ARMRING ONE KNOT SHAPE
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: ARMRING TRIPLE KNOT SHAPE
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: ARMRING LARGER
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: EAST SEPIK AREA
Village: MURIK LAKES AREA
Description.: SHELL NASSA SHELL MONEY -

MAIJ- (2-a,b)
Description: A very scarce example of the
"MAIJ" shell money of the Sepik Area of New
Guinea. These are illustrated In Quiggins book
(p173) on Primitive Moneys and also by the
German ethnologists Finsch and Schneider.
These are not to be confused with the normal
nassa shells on string which are used as
decoration throughout New Guinea. The Maij is
a specific item which was used as a money only.
Both Finsch and Quiggins advise that they are a
true money and currency. They were also
known by the names SSanem and Darram and
these are the names that Finch and Schneider
usually use. Collected in the 1960s it is from the
Murik Lakes area.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: PAPUAN GULF EAST
Village: Motu Area
Description.: NECKLACE DOGA
Description: A 19th Century necklace valued

from the Papuan Gulf through to the Massim
people.
A very important money/trade item.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SEPIK LOWER
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING SEPIK called Yua
Description: Called Yua.

marriage, the groom presents yua to the brides
parents, the number he is able to give
becoming a lifelong source of pride. At death,
gifts of yua to maternal relatives help ease the
passage of the spirit to the afterlife. Shell rings
also play an integral role in ceremonial life.
They are displayed during male initiation, the
dedication of No Picture 2
mens ceremonial houses, and other occasions,
as symbols of the strength and wealth of the
community. The rings are so prized that a man,
wishing to emphasize another mans status or
his affection for him, will address him as wuna
yua (my ring).
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SEPIK LOWER
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE OLIVES/NASSA
Description: A wearable valuable with the

monetary items of nassa and olives shell.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SEPIK UPPER
Village:
Description.: ARMBAND PIG TUSK

Sydney.
Holed at both ends to br joined with fibre and

used as an armband.
Pig tusk pendants are mentione by Haddon as a

highly valued money item in the Papuan Gulf
area.
In the Asmat area to the West a tusk armband

like this denoted that the wearer had killed a
man.
No Picture 2
District: MALAITA
Village: Kwai District (Saltwater People)
Description.: SHELLRING CLAMSHELL WHITE

THIN GROOVED
1980s.
This is a rare old clamshell armring called fa-i

kome. It was used by the Kwara-ae, a saltwater
people from the Kwai District, Malaita.
It is unusual and different from the normal

Poata from the western islands in that it has
very thin walls which have a slight inward curve
on the outside. More information can be
obtained from the link at:
https://www.penn.museum/documents/publicat
ions/expedition/PDFs/32-1/Burt.pdf
No Picture 2
Village: BAEGU VILLAGE
Description.: SHELLRING CLAMSHELL BLACK

1980s.
This shellring hung for many years in the
rafters of local houses in Baegu Village,
Northern Solomons. It is not a type of lovcal
money and it is thought that it came to the area
through voyages, wars or battles in the distant
past.
The black colour is many, many years
accumulation of smoke residue from the fires in
the huts. It seems to be a poata.
''''money'''' in the Solomons. They are also
known as paota keoro.
regular, unvarying, thickness and width from No Picture 2
Squamosa shells.
Mbakia,
Poata circulated widely throughout the
Western Solomons as a general currency. They
were used also to purchase ritual knowledge,
.
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING CONUS 68mm BIRD

1980s.
It is not certain what this shell ring is called. It

is conus shell but the 'extra' piece of carved
shell on the outside (representation of a bird)
might make it a 'rade' from Santa Isabel.
No Picture 2
District:
Village: Santa Cruz
Description.: BIRD HOLDER STRING
Description: String holder to hold the captured

red honeyeater birds caught to supply feathers
for the famous feather rolls. The birds are then
let free.
No Picture 2
District: Malaita
Village: KWAIO


the like.
This bala represents a fruit bat shape, is named
balafai''a and was made by a Kwaio woman
named laete''esafi.

author.
items are rare (not necessarily valuable) and
almost never seen.
District: Malaita
Village: KWAIO


the like.
This bala has a two fish shape, is named balai'a
Alasiabou.

and author.
District:
Village:

1980s.
See Quiggin page 128:The fruit-eating bats,
called from their foxy faces and colour flying-
foxes, have only 2 teeth more than Man, but
they are all much the same in shape and size
and are used as ornament, while teeth as well
as hair figure largely in currency.
No Picture 2
District: MALAITA
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING RED (80 CM)

1980s.
These shellstrings made of small red shell discs

are the most valuable type of shellstring in the
islands.
No Picture 2
Village:
Description.: FEATHER PLATELETS (5)

1980s.
No Picture 2
District: GUADALCANAL
Village:
Description.: STONE GRINDER FOR FISHHOOKS

1980s.
A small grindind stone used to give the final

grinding and polish to fishhooks.
No Picture 2
District: MAROVO LAGOON
Village:
Description.: SHELL CONUS MISSING TOP

1980s
An ancient Conus shell from which the top
section has been removed for use as a money
shellring or shell disc.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: PIG TUSK DOUBLE HOLED

1980s.



in PNG mythology.
No Picture 2
village.
price.
District: New Georgia Island
Village: MAROVO LAGOON
Description.: SHELLRING CLAMSHELL BROKEN

(GRAVE) - 2 - a,b
1980s.
Valuable shell moneys were "sacrificed" and

purposely broken on the grave of a chief or
important big Man. Both halves are from the
same shellring but the weathering is different
on each - from different sides facing the
weather for many years.
This large prehistoric shell ring was found on a

grave in the Marovo Lagoon area on New
Georgia Island. It is about 125mm in diameter
and appears to be of the Bareke type of shell
money. It would probably be made of Tridacna
Squamosa shell and was a very highly valued
shell ring. These were the oldest type of No Picture 2
Roviana exchange medium and date to before
1600. They were mainly used in matters of high
importance and shrines in Roviana contain
nearby Simbo these shell rings are regarded as
being alive and when they die (are broken ?)
similar belief is held on New Georgia. In
Roviana, bareke were principally used for land
fertility rites and access, as priestly insignia and
in ritual transfer of land rights.
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING CENTRE CLAMSHELL

1980s.
This is the centre of clamshell left over after the

shellring has been carved from its outside.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: BARAVA CLAMSHELL CANOE

ORNAMENT
1980s.
This is a type of Barava used as an amulet.
Possibly ex gravesite
No Picture 2
District: BELLONA
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE FLYING FOX

TEETH/FISH VERTEBRAE
1980s
Qiggins page 128 mentions bats teeth has
currency value: Solomons the teeth are pierced
like those of dogs and porpoises, and bunched
in fours for small change. They are also strung
with porpoise teeth or with fish vertebrae. A
string of the latter has not only currency value,
but is used in ritual, being worn on the arm as a
sign of peace at a peace-making ceremony on
San Cristoval.
No Picture 2
Village:

CORRODED/STAINED FROM GRAVE SITE
Description: Called Hokata, Bokolo or Tinete.

to chief''s by men for the sexual services of
''ritually designated women''. They were also
used to decorate skull shrines of important men
where they represented spirits of dead chiefs
and were used by living chiefs to communicate
with their dead ancestors, either to placate
them or to seek their aid. This shell ring comes
from a grave shrine.
It is presumed, from the shape and size, that

this shell is conus (it might be clamshell?).
Collected by M L Clark, an American adventurer No Picture 2

Country: INDONESIA
District: LOMBOK
Village:
Description.: Carved Wood Box Funerary Urn
Description: Not a monetary item
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: East of the PAPUAN GULF
Village: KWIKILA
Description.: ARMRING CONUS TOEA (MWALI)

Sydney.
Haddon - a good armlet was worth a wife.

Note attached saying - Mr H Babbage. Thank
you for all your kindness throughout this year
1966. - also written on the shell in pencil - High
School Kwikila 1966.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: ARMRING GLASS

Sydney.
Manufactured by Europeans to replace the

shellrings.
No Picture 2
District: MALAITA
Village: KWARA'AE
Description.: SHELL PENDANT CLAMSHELL

LAONASSI OR SA'ELA'O
Description: Called a Laonassi or Saelao.
Ex Lawsons Tribal Arts Auctions in 1982.
An important wearable valuable.
No Picture 2
Country: EGYPT
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE SHELLS (INCLUDES

SCALLOP SHELL)
Description: Ancient trade or money items from
ancient Egypt. It dates to circa 5000 Bc and is
probably from the Faiyum A Culture.
No Picture 2
Country: EGYPT
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE SHELLS (INCLUDES

SMALLER STRIPED SHELLS)
No Picture 2
Country: EGYPT
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE STONE & TERRACOTTA

BEADS
No Picture 2
Country: EGYPT
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELL BEAD DECORATED WITH

DOTS
Description: Ancient trade or money item from
A marvellous piece of dot art from antiquity.
No Picture 2
Country: SUMERIA
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE BEAD/STONE
Description: CIRCA 3000BC found at site near

Tel Ahmar on the Euphrates.
A 5000 year old trade/money item.
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: CLOTH (3 - a,b,c)
Description: Refer Quiggin page 85. Hand

loomed.A Trade item of the period.
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE AGGRY BEADS
Description: See Frontispiece item 6 Quiggin

and page 39 Fig 2.
A bead money necklace.
No Picture 2
Village:
Description.: SHELL DENTALIUM
Description: Called Allikochik.

of the IPOCMC).
Quiggins on page 294 (Fig 129) mentions that

these dentalium shells had a true currency
value to the inland tribes but were generally
valued as a high value trade item and used in
bride price.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: ELK TEETH

A valued monetary/wearable item.
Used by the Shoshoni and Bannock tribes each
tooth was valued at twenty five cents in 1890
and, in 1926, one hundred teeth would
purchase a good horse.
No Picture 2
District: ONTONG JAVA
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE TINY GLASS BEADS

valued in trade.
No Picture 2
District: MALAITA
Village: NORTH MALAITA
Description.: ARMBAND TINY GLASS BEADS
Description: Custom armband in which the old

custom shell discs have been replaced with
glass beads.
No Picture 2
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE SHELLSTRING BA
Description: Called Ba. It comes from Santa

Cruz and is a very scarce item.
No Picture 2
District: MALAITA
Village: SOUTH MALAITA
Description.: PIG TUSK NEAR FULL CIRCLE-

WEATHERED
1980s
Found in an abandoned village in South malaita.



in PNG mythology. No Picture 2


pig is removed with the tusks intact and is
village.
price.
District: SANTA ISABEL
Village:
Description.: FISHHOOK SHELL ISABEL

1980s.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: MAGIC STONE GIANT KILLER

1980s
It is a giant killer and came from Malaita where
it was taken from a sacred Custom House area
in an abandoned village.
No Picture 2
District: ROVIANA
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING CLAMSHELL ROVIANA
Description: The cache found was probably

buried well over a century ago - possibly by a
man on the eve of his departure on a war raid
or by someone who could see the war canoes of
the enemy approaching the island. These were
dug up on an old village site on New Georgia
facing Roviana Lagoon. Eighteen rings were
buried together but most were eaten away,
possibly by acid in the soil. a hill
Because of the value of the cache, and the fact
that they were never recovered by the owner it
is probable that he died in the fighting of the
time.The rings on the outside of the cache were
badly corroded but this one, from the centre, is
in quite good condition although a little
calcified.
the Pacific in the early 1980s. No Picture 2
It seems to be a Poata, the name of which now

means money in the Solomons. They are also
known as poata keoro, bakiha keoro and takula.

Squamosa shells.
These were next in value down from the Mbakia

and circulated widely throughout the Western
Solomons as a general currency and were used
Village:
Description.: EARRING BA SHELLS SANTA CRUZ

1980s.
A monetary wearable.
No Picture 2
District: SAVO
Village:
Description.: ARMRING PLASTIC SAVO
Description: Originally purchased from a boy

whose grandmother wore it with similar shaped
clamshell rings until her death some time back.
No Picture 2
Village:

1980s.
Called Hokata, Bokolo or Tinete.

to chief's by men for the sexual services of
'ritually designated women'. They were also
used to decorate skull shrines of important
men.
Shell armrings were mentioned by the Spanish

explorer in 1568 when he visited this island,
Santa Isabel. He obtained a shell armring from No Picture 2
a chief of the island.
Village:
Description.: BARK CLOTH BLUE TAPA
Description: Santa Isabel is the only place in

the Pacific that makes blue tapa. It is coloured
with custom die of wild indigo (called pau).
Blue tapa cloth was a particularly valuable
commodity.
No Picture 2
District: N.E. GUADALCANAL
Village: NEAR MT. TUTAVE
Description.: AXE HAFTED STEEL BLADE

KILIKILI
Description: Steel blade axe called kilikili in
Pidgin
No Picture 2
District: BELLONA
Village:
Description.: ADZEBLADE CLAMSHELL BELLONA
Description: A highly valued trade/money item

of the area. Shell was used as stone was scarce.

No Picture 2
District: BELLONA
Village:
Description.: ADZEBLADE CLAMSHELL


No Picture 2
Village: NEBOI VILLAGE, NEA DISTRICT
Description.: CHARM NOMBA HUMAN CHEST

BONE
Collected by M L Clark. Painted with tumeric,

this is the chest bone (sternum) of a man
named Mepirpe. After his recent death his
brother, named Mapulir, dug up the bone and
used it as a charm (Nomba) to add Mana to a
feather roll passed down to him from his
brother.From Neboi Village, Nea District of
Santa Cruz. There were no relatives to pass this
on to and, as it contained powerful Mana and
power that could endanger non-relatives, the
villagers were keen to pass it on to keep the
village safe from it.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: AXEBLADE STEEL SMALL
Description: 19th Century iron trade axe -

probably made in a workshop on one of the
early ships to the area.
No Picture 2
Country: NIGERIA
District: ADAMAWA PROVINCE
Village:
Description.: TOBACCO (SNUFF) BOX BRASS

Auctions, Sydney.
A tobacco or snuff container made of brass by

the lost wax method.
A valuable trade item, mainly because of the

metal content. From the Adamawa people.
No Picture 2
Country: BORNEO
District:
Village:
Description.: BASKET
Description: Minor trade item of the Iban

People.
No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
District:
Village:
Description: A Child''s blanket found by an

early settler.
This object came from a private museum at
Chevy Chase, Dangarsleigh, Arrmidale, N.S.W.
This museum was established by Robert Issell
Perrott (1822-1895), who came to Australia
with his father, Dr Thomas Montgomery Perrott
in 1839. This item was collected between 1850
and 1900.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MANUS ISLAND
Village:
Description.: SPEAR OBSIDIAN HEAD
Description: Obsidian from Manus has been

traded for over three thousand years through
the Admiralties and on to New Britain and to
many other areas.
This object came from a private museum at

Chevy Chase, Dangarsleigh, Arrmidale, N.S.W.
This museum was established by Robert Issell
Perrott (1822-1895), who came to Australia
with his father, Dr Thomas Montgomery Perrott
in 1839. Most of the objects in the collection
were collected between 1850 and 1900.
No Picture 2
Village:
Description.: MAT WOVEN SANTA CRUZ
Description: Mats were money on Santa Cruz

Island and also were traded to the nearby
islands of Vanikolo and Utupua. They were
traded to the people on these two islands for
red feathers to make the coils of red feather
money. In early times mats were used as burial
shrouds but mats are no longer made.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: BELT WOVEN
Description: Minor valuable used in trade and

gifts.
No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE BUGLE GRASS
Description: This came from a private museum

at Chevy Chase, Dangarsleigh, Arrmidale,
N.S.W. The museum was established by Robert
Issell Perrott (1822-1895), who came to
Australia with his father in 1839. Most of the
objects in the collection were collected between
1850 and 1900.
This one is almost exactly like the one collected
by Roth in 1898 and held in The Australian
Museum: They were made of hundreds of
lengths of grass reeds threaded on bark fibre
string and tied at the ends. The necklaces were
from 360 to 480 centimetres long with each
grass reed about 1.25 cm long and cut with the
edge of a mussel shell or stone knife. Necklaces
could either be worn, wound round and round
the neck, or rolled into a thick loop and worn
with their ends tied with string. Roth said that
these necklaces were made all over No Picture 2
Queensland. On the east coast, from the
Endeavour River to as far south as Keppel
Island, they were made as one long string of
beads. On the Gulf side of Cape York Peninsula
they were made in necklaces of many strands.
The necklaces were made and worn only by
women, except at the Tully River, where Roth
said both men and women wore them.
Thomas Petrie, a friend of Roth's living in
Brisbane at the time, said that these necklaces
also were made by local Brisbane Aboriginal
people.
Usually the old men and women made them,

but they were mostly worn by men. The
Country: NIGERIA
District:
Village:


for the majority.
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: RING SMALL BRASS MOSSI

ex Christies.
An example of the Ashanti castinf of small items

(such as their gold-weights) which, because of
the meta, were wearable monetary items.
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: BEADS (3)

valued in trade.
ex Neil Kent Becker.
EX CHRISTIES. CIRCA 1400S
No Picture 2
Country: EGYPT OR AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: BEAD CARNELIAN

valued in trade.

of the IPOCMC).
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: RING SMALL BRASS ASHANTI

ex Christies.
An example of the Ashanti castinf of small items

(such as their gold-weights) which, because of
the meta, were wearable monetary items.
No Picture 2
Country: PACIFIC
District:
Village:
Description.: Shellstring Black/White discs with

shells (Possibly a type of cowrie)
Ex Jess Peters Sale and from the Moore

Collection.
A shellstring, possibly Tekaroro from the

Gilberts with a cowrie-like shell.
Unidentified.
No Picture 2
Village:
Description.: MAGIC STONE

1980s
Buried in the ground at sacred or tambu sites to
protect against disturbance or theft.
No Picture 2
Village:
Description.: MAGIC STONE

1980s
Buried in the ground at sacred or tambu sites to
protect against disturbance or theft.
No Picture 2
District: MAKIRA
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING POD

1980s.
These were added to the end of shellstring

valuables.
No Picture 2
Village:
Description.: ADZEBLADE STONE GROOVED
Description: Very old stone blade adze.

No Picture 2
District:
Village:

(56)
Description: See Quiggin page 128: The fruit-
eating bats, called from their foxy faces and
colour
flying-foxes, have only 2 teeth more than Man,
but they are all much the same in shape and
size and are used as ornament, while teeth as
well as hair figure largely in currency.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE BAGI ROSSEL

POPOKENI
Description: Called Popokeni or Pick-weli. For
high value purchases and used to buy a house
or a pig at a death feast. Not used in Bride
price. Used as a valued ornament in dancing
when the bottom pendant is not attached. Rare.
No Picture 2
Village: MELANGO DISTRICT

1980s.
In this case a steel blade had supplanted the

stone.
No Picture 2
Village: MAROVO GRAVE SITE
Description.: WHALE TOOTH - CALLED KALO

185mm Long.
Description: Ex ML Clark, Solomons.
Called Kalo. Probably 1700s ex a grave.
Frank Reiter advises that, in New Georgia,
whale teeth played a significant role long before
the whalers of the 19th century. They were next
in importance to shields and Tridacna rings for
exchange and payments. Hviding (1996) states
in his Glossary of Marovo Words "very high
ranking traditional currency, associated with
much spiritual power". He points to their
considerable age. He found, on New Georgia
graves, Tridacna-rings, fragments of rings,
fragments of pierced Tridacna plates and, only
very occasionally, whale teeth.
Aswani and Sheppard (2003) reported whale
teeth were found in very few burial sites or
shrines on Nusa Roviana. Obviously whale teeth
were the rarest items, which is understandable
due to their low availability. No Picture 2
An old man named Daga (who was 89 years
old) from the village of Vulea advised that in his
youth whale teeth were used for land purchase,
settlement of land and other disputes and
compensation payments.
Unlike other Solomons money such as Tridacna
shell money and rings, which today are
occasionally still in use, kalo belongs to the
truly historical money.
This tooth is extremely ancient but has been -
cleaned- with a knife by an over-enthusiastic
islander.
District: MALAITA
Village: WEST KWAIO
Description.: ARMRING PORCELAIN

1980s.
No Picture 2
Village:
Description.: NAIL COPPER

1980s
A high value item in the Pacific where ships
were denuded of nails by their sailors who
traded them to natives for goods and, from the
women, for sexual favours.
First recorded sighting by Europeans was by the
Spanish expedition of lvaro de Mendaa on 4
July 1568. More precisely the sighting and also
landing on Santa Anna was due to a local
voyage done by a small boat, in the accounts
the brigantine Santiago, commanded by
Francisco Muoz Rico and having Hernn
Gallego as pilot. They charted it as Santa Ana
This item, being found on its own, was probably
traded by sailors sometime between 1568 to
the very early 1800s. No Picture 2
District: MALAITA
Village: KWAIO
Description.: SAPI SHELLS UNFINISHED
A batch of shells in the process of being made

into shell money.

author.
valuable) and almost never seen. No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: SKIRT FIBRE TROBRIANDS
Description: Obtained in 1983.
Called Doba (also the name of the bundles of

banana leaves).
The Massim women make these skirts from

banana leaves and fibres. Traditionally they
were dyed red and purple, today commercial
dyes offer more variety.
These skirts are presentd at mortuary

ceremonies and some naming ceremonies. They
are clssified as 'women's wealth'.
No Picture 2
Country: CANADA
District: BRITISH COLUMBIA
Village: KETTLE VALLEY
Description.: ARROWHEADS OBSIDIAN &

STONE (2) & KNIFE STONE
Description: Obsidian tools, mainly arrowheads
and spearheads were a popular and valued
trade item throughout North America. See
Taxay page 87. These items would date to prior
to the17th century AD.
No Picture 2
Country: MEXICO
District: TARASCAN
Village:
Description.: OBSIDIAN KNIFE TARASCAN
Description: Pre Colombian used in trade by the

Tarascan people in the period 1100AD-1530AD
No Picture 2
Country: MEXICO
District: AZTEC
Village:
Description.: JADE DISC AZTEC 9 CIRC

No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Collingwood Bay
Village:
Description.: AXEBLADE STONE JADE NEPHRITE
Description: Sir William MacGregor

(Administrator of Brit New Guinea) himself
says: Mr. Jack classes the jade of Collingwood
Bay with that of New Zealand. He also says that
the stone axes of New Guinea are not used as
a tool in building canoes, or in any other such
work; but they represent the standard of
currency in great transactions, such as the
purchase of a canoe or a pig, or in obtaining a
wife. The natives always carefully explain that,
as concerns the wife, the stone axes are not
given as payment for her, but as a present to
the father of the girl' The greatest standard of
currency in New Guinea is the jade, or
greenstone axe;
The material is exactly similar in looks to the
Maori greenstone (Jade).
No Picture 2
Village:


No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: COWRIE OVULA/HUMAN TOOTH

AND SHELL DISCS
1980s.
The human tooth added Mana or magic power.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description: Quality stone adzeblade.

No Picture 2
District:
Village:

SHELL ON CORD
A rare pendant of what appears to be baler shell

from the Gilberts. These are at times made of
whale bone but, in this case, shell is used.
A rare monetary wearable.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MADANG
Village:
Description.: POT CLAY RED
Description: For hundreds of years the Yabob

and Bilbil people of the Madang area used big
sailing canoes to trade their pots from Karkar
Island to western Morobe. They were part of the
Vitiaz Strait trade network. Bundi was the
centre of trade between Astrolabe Bay and the
Highlands. Trade involved shells, salt, clay pots
and wooden bowls from the lowlands and stone
axes, feathers and women from the Asaro,
Simbu and Jimi valleys.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: PIG TUSK
Description: Pig Tusks are highly valued

throughout the Pacific. Some notes on this
include:


in PNG mythology.

the pig is removed with the tusks intact and is No Picture 2
village.
price.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: PIG TUSK
Description: Pig Tusks are highly valued

throughout the Pacific. Some notes on this
include:


in PNG mythology.

the pig is removed with the tusks intact and is No Picture 2
village.
price.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Fly River Northern Area
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE SPLIT TUSKS (4) PIG
Description: Necklace of split pig tusks - a

wearable item of trade.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: PAPUAN GULF FLY RIVER
Village: SUKI LAGOON
Description.: DAGGER HUMAN BONE
Description: Daggers were usually made from

the bone of the cassowary and were an
accepted trade item. However daggers such as
this one made of human bone had extremely
high value due to its magic power or mana.
Daggers of cassowary bone, especially those

that were carved, were a popular trade item in
the Sepik and even more valued in the Papuan
Gulv/Torres Strait region. One of human bone
would have been extremely valuable.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: BAG STRING (NASSA

DECORATION)
Description: Small string bag - probably from
the Sepik area and probably used by an
important man to carry betel, etc.
The nassa shell was one of the main money
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: BELT/NECKLACE COWRIE

New Guinea.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MARSHALL BENNETT ISLANDS-
TROBRIANDS - Massim
Village:
Description.: LIME SPATULA WOOD - MASSIM
Description: #219 Carved with two

birds/circular nautilus motif. Recognised by
Harry Beran as once being in his collection.
Lime spatulas are used to transfer lime to the
mouth of a person chewing betel nut.
They can also be important in other ways. They
are a gift in the Kula trade to encourage a
future trading partner or as a pari (landing gift).
Some are used as house guardians to ward off
supernatural threats, others are magical and
are used to encourage growth in crops or
produce good weather for a Kula trip. No doubt
some are used for less peaceful purposes. A
special class were to only be used by chiefly
persons. These include extra-long ones and
those decorated with Bagi shells. The clapper
type of spatula is used by chiefs to tap against
the thigh to warn commoners of his coming.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE COIX SEED
Description: Opitz mentions that coix seeds

were used as a money (?).
This necklace from New Guinea appears to have

been used mainly as decoration.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MURIK LAKES
Village:
Description.: DISH WOOD
Description: Boiken wood bowl was a popular

trade item.
No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
District: CENTRAL AUSTRALIA
Village:

source.

No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MT.HAGEN
Village:
Description: Small axe/adze blade for work use.

As such was a popular trade item.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MT. HAGEN
Village:

SHELL
Description: From Mt Hagen.
In the Highlands, bailer shell was of high value.
It was used for ceremonial exchange, life-cycle

payments, payments to experts, bride wealth
and decoration.
Called Kokla raem (tam in Teboka).
It was worn by boys, women and girls. Both

sexes wear large bailers over the breast for
dancing and men also wear rounded pieces on
their foreheads.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MT. HAGEN
Village:
Description.: HEADBAND NASSA SHELL
Description: An important wearable

trade/money item of the area.
Exchange Ceremony.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MT. HAGEN
Village:
Description.: PEARLSHELL CRESCENT ON

BOARD MOKA
Description: This is a Kina set in gum for
inclusion in the famous Moka ceremony of the
Highlands where these were exchanged for pigs
in a continuing series of competitive gift givings
amon the Big Men.
The Kina itself, made of gold lip pearlshell, was
used for bride price, pig purchases and other
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MT. HAGEN
Village:
Description.: CLUBHEAD STONE CUBIC
Description: Large, heavy, cube shaped stone

clubhead from Mount Hagen.
Possibly pre-historic.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MT. HAGEN
Village:
Description.: STONE MORTAR
Description: A marvellous and unique stone

mortar from Mount Hagen in New Guinea.
It is prehistoric and is probably 3500-7500

years old.
The 3500 year old date is fairly precise due to a
volcanic eruption at the time.
An interesting series of stone mortars, pestles

and figures, many of which appear to have been
traded, have been found throughout much of
New Guinea and the North Eastern islands. All
are rare.
This item is rare and unique.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MT. HAGEN
Village: TAMBUL AREA
Description.: STONE FIGURE FEMALE
Description: A marvellous and unique stone

figure from Mount Hagen in New Guinea.

years old.

are rare.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MT. HAGEN
Village:
Description: Small use axe/adze blade valued in

trade.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MT. HAGEN
Village:
Description: A work blade rather than

ceremonial. As such it was a popular trade item.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village: MOUNT HAGEN
Description.: NECKLACE COWRIES ON FIBRE

New Guinea.
No Picture 2
Country: TIBET
District: 6KM EX KATHMANDU
Village: BODHNATH
Description.: BELL DEOGANTA
Description: Bell used inBuddhist ceremonies in

Tibet but used as a money by the Hill Miris of
Lakimpur on the Tibetan Border. Regarded as
being sacred and as a money they were valued
from 4 annas to 12 rupees. This example has a
Chinese inscription around the neck and
another inscription inside which are said to be
the Buddhist mantra - om mani padme hom -
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: PU AN YANG
Description: Pu Money of Ancient China.

The characters read An Yang.
Chou Dynasty. Before 256 BC.
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: KNIFE MONEY POINTED TIP. "Dao"
Description: It is assumed that the pointed

knifes, with a smooth curve down the back, are
the earliest form of knife money. They have the
closest style to genuine knives, and like the
early hollow-handled spades often appear
without inscriptions, although the inscri
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: PU ROUNDED FEET
Description: Characters read as "Yang Tsin Fun"

with the character "Luh"= 6 on the reverse.
This coin is #645 page 163 of catalogue of
Chinese Coins by Lacouperie.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: INGOT LINE MONEY
Description: The northern Lanna Kingdom ,

which lasted from 1239 to 1564, used leaf (or
line) money made of brass and silver .
(Ka Kim) monies.
Leaf and Line money are believed to be one of
the earliest Lannathai ingots No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE HUMAN TEETH (3)

1980s.
Called uma ana lifa ngwae. A full necklace of
teeth was given to John Renton before 1875
eaten.
No Picture 2
District: BERU ISLAND
Village: ERIKO VILLAGE
Description.: NECKLACE 70 PORPOISE TEETH

GLASS BEADS
1980s
called Te Win Ririko - a money necklace.
No Picture 2
District: TABITEUEA ISLAND
Village: TANALANG VILLAGE

Its custom name was Te Taku.

No Picture 2
District: TAMANA ISLAND
Village: BAKARAWA VILLAGE
Description.: FISHHOOKS METAL (2)

1980s
FOUND WITH METAL DETECTOR
These early metal fishhooks were a populy
method of payment from the Europeans to the
natives.
No Picture 2
Village:
Description.: FISHOOK SHANK PEARLSHELL

1980s. The pearlshell shanks, as well as the
complete fishhook, were valued items.
No Picture 2
Village: TABUKINIBERU VILLAGE

1980s.
CUSTOM NAME -TE KANEATI-
No Picture 2
Description.: TO UBA SHELL PENDANT TE-UBA

CONUS SHELL ON HUMAN HAIR
1980s
These are called Te Nouo or sometimes,
generally, Te Uba.
See Quiggins pages 140 and 142. It is

illustrated in Quiggins Fig 53.
central hole, but are drilled at the projecting No Picture 2
close
together that the circles overlap'.
District: BUTARITARI ISLAND
Village:
Description.: CORAL PENDANT RING ON

HAIRSTRING
1980s.
No Picture 2
District: TAMANA ISLAND
Village: BAREBUKA VILLAGE
Description.: WHALE TOOTH SMALL
Description: Called Ti Wi Ni Kua. This tooth was

actually presented to M L Clark, as an esteemed
visitor, who responded with a gift of 50 sewing
needles.

A highly valued item throughout the Pacific.
No Picture 2
District: NIKUNAO ISLAND
Village:
Description.: TOBACCO NATIVE (2)

1980s.
Two items of native tobacco from Nikunao

Island in theGilberts. It is a scarce example of a
popular trade item.
No Picture 2
District: ONOTOA ISLAND
Village: TANEANG VILLAGE
Description.: MAT MANS
Description: Man's formal dance mat called - TE

BE - to be worn with the human hair belt called
-TE NUOTA-.(see item C.0664) Obtained from a
villager woman named Baurina Bauro (an
elderly lady who made it and who also made
the belt from her own hair) who made it and
the mans formal dance mat some 50 years ago
for her husband. Her husband Kaitama Tewaroi
died some years back and, as there were no
suitable relatives to pass the two items to, she
sold both items to Mr M L Clark. Both items
were worn for special occasions, especially for
the Nuotana dance called Te Kabae.
District: ONOTOA ISLAND
Village: TANEANG VILLAGE
Description.: BELT HUMAN HAIR
Description: Human Hair Belt called -TE NUOTA

-. Obtained from a villager woman named
Baurina Bauro (an elderly lady) who made it
from her own hair and who made it and the
mans formal dance mat called TE BE (see item
C.0663) some 50 years ago for her husband.
Her husband Kaitama Tewaroi died some years
back and, as there were no suitable relatives to
pass the two items to, she sold both items to Mr
M L Clark. Both items were worn for special
occasions, especially for the Nuotana dance
called TE KABAE.
Description: Womans Fibre Skirt called Te

Kamakorokoro Item worn with the White Shell
Belt called Te Tumara (item C.0666) and the
belt of coconut discs called Te Kaporo or Te
Katau (item C.0667)

Description.: BELT SHELL WHITE
Description: White Shell Belt called Te Tumara

(item C.0666) worn with the womans Fibre
Skirt called Te Kamakorokoro Item C.0665) and
the belt of coconut discs called Te Kaporo or Te
Katau (item C.0667)
Description.: BELT COCONUT DISCS
Description: Belt of Coconut Discs called Te

Kaporo or Te Katau (item C.0667) worn with
the womans Fibre Skirt called Te Kamakorokoro
Item C.0665) and the White Shell Belt called Te
Tumara (item C.0666)
Village: NUKA VILLAGE
Description.: TO UBA SHELL PENDANT ON

HAIRSTRING
Description: The Custom name is Te Ntabo or Te
Nta.

No Picture 2
District: BERU/BANABA ISLANDS
Village:
Description.: FISHHOOK SHANK STALAGMITE
Description: The stalactite Kaneati called

Wakani Ba was used for Bonito trolling. No
other fishhook was used, gifts to favoured
people. Could be regarded as a higher currency
- The Book of Benaba - HG & HE Maude
ALTHOUGH PURCHASED ON BERU ISLAND
ORIGINALLY MADE ON BANABA (OCEAN
ISLAND) ISLAND FROM A STALAGMITE FOUND
IN CAVES THERE.
No Picture 2
District: SOUTHERN ISLANDS
Village:
Description.: FISHHOOK PIECES PARTLY MADE

(3-a,b,c)
1980s.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: PEARLS FRESHWATER (5)
Description: An item used as decoration and in

minor trade.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: AMPHLETT ISLANDS - Massim
Village:
Description.: POT CLAY BAKED - MASSIM
Description: The natives of the Amphletts were

exclusive manufacturers of pottery for a wide
radius around their island. They were the sole
suppliers to the Trobriands, Marshall Bennett
Islands and Woodlark Island and they exported
their pots as far south as Milne Bay.
A very important trade and Kula Cycle item.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: PAPUAN GULF FLY RIVER AREA
Village: LAKE MURRAY
Description.: PENIS COVER SHELL MELO

BAILER SHELL
Description: Collected by Jack Sweeney who
was a crocodile shooter, crocodile skin buyer
and trader from 1955 to 1977 in the area from
the Purari to the Morehead Rivers. During the
period from 1972 to 1977 he ran a cargo boat
from Daru Island to the top of the Fly River - a
distance of 541 miles.
Melo shells were highly valued in the area -
especially when made into such a groin shield
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: BAMU RIVER
Description.: PENDANT CONUS DIBIDIBI

Collected by Jack Sweeney who was a crocodile
shooter, crocodile skin buyer and trader from
1955 to 1977 in the area from the Purari to the
Morehead Rivers. During the period from 1972
to 1977 he ran a cargo boat from Daru Island to
the top of the Fly River - a distance of 541
miles.
Haddon advises that Dibi dibi were very
important trade/money items of the area.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING SEPIK ROBBIE 107

CM
Description: Ex Sepik Robbie Collection. Major
E D Robinsom MC (Sepik Robbie) served before
WWII in New Guinea as a Patrol Officer and as
as District Officer of the Sepik District from
1927-1935. During WWII he was the
Commander of the Intelligence and Observation
Unit behind Japanese lines on the West Coast of
Bougainville.
The nassa shells were a true money item all

through the north Coast of New Guinea.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: FEATHERS GURIA (Goura or

Crowned Pigeon) PIGEON CREST
Description: Ex Sepik Robbie Collection. Major
E D Robinsom MC (Sepik Robbie) served before
WWII in New Guinea as a Patrol Officer and as
as District Officer of the Sepik District from
1927-1935. During WWII he was the
Bougainville.
A very popular and well known trade item in the

area and used as money and decoration..
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE OLIVE

SHELLS/DIBIDIBI
Haddon advises that olive shell necklaces were
another of the highest valued items of the area.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE BEAD & SHELL SEPIK

ROBBIE
Description: Ex Sepik Robbie collection.
Major E D Robinsom MC (Sepik Robbie) served
before WWII in New Guinea as a Patrol Officer
and as as District Officer of the Sepik District
from 1927-1935. During WWII he was the
Bougainville.
A lovely shell and beaded money item.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: CORAL DISCS (2) SEPIK ROBBIE
Description: Lawson's catalogue states "used as

currency. Solomon Islands". Ex Sepik Robbie
Collection. Major E D Robinsom MC (Sepik
Robbie) served before WWII in New Guinea as a
Patrol Officer and as as District Officer of the
Sepik District from 1927-1935. During WWII he
was the Commander of the Intelligence and
Observation Unit behind Japanese lines on the
West Coast of Bougainville.
He personally called it money but I can find no

other record of its use as money. Recently
similar coral discs have been excavated in
Lapita sites near New Britain.
No Picture 2
Village: DARU ISLAND
Description.: Armring Conus Wauri

Sydney.
Armring Conus Wauri (called wawri by the

western Islanders and wauri by the eastern
Islanders of the Torres Strait and mabuo by the
Kiwai
Haddon states that a good armlet was worth a
wife. These armrings were one of the most
valued items of the area.
miles.
This actual item is illustrated page 5 of Money
Substitutes and Favoured Trade Items of Torres No Picture 2
Straits and Papua Gulf by Col Davidson. Refer
Quiggins p181 Fig 77.
District: BANKS ISLAND GROUP
Village: MOTA LAVA

Its custom name was natalei.

No Picture 2
District: ESPIRITO SANTO
Village:
Description: Collected by M L Clark, in 1983, an

1980s.
No Picture 2
District: BANKS ISLAND
Village: MOTA LAVA
Description.: SHELLSTRING CONUS SOM

1980s
See Quiggin pages 115-117, 135,165-6, etc.

although it is darker than Quiggins illustration.
This is the famous Som shell money also called

Nesem from Mota Lava, Banks Island on the
New Hebrides..
No Picture 2
District: BANKS ISLAND GROUP
Village:
Description.: TRUMPET TRITON SHELL

1980s.
It is a trumpet made from a Triton Shell and

comes from the Banks Islands in the New
Hebrides.
These items were favourite trade items

throughout the Pacific.
Called Bubu
No Picture 2
District: MALEKULA
Village:
Description.: MAT PENIS WRAPPER

1980s
From the Big Namba people.
District: MALEKULA
Village:
Description.: MAT SKIRT WOMANS

1980s
EX BIG NAMBA PEOPLE
District: BANKS ISLANDS
Village:


No Picture 2
Country: COSTA RICA
District:
Village:
Description.: EAR PLUG JADE
Description: From the collection of Robert Shaw.

Authenticated by Paul Clifford - American
Society of Appraisers USA and Harmer Johnson
Appraiser's Association of America , J Silberman
and and Donald M hales American Society of
Apparaisers and Professor Bates ANU testing
with thermoluminescence.
sending to King Charles that: ''''''''each stone is
worth two loads of gold''''''''.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Kukukuku Watut?
Village: Watut
Description.: STONE TAPA BEATER KUKUKUKU?

Sydney.
Burton in 'Fratricide and Inequality' advises that

main valuables among the Watut people are
salt, cowrie shells, axe blades and stone tapa-
beaters.
He also states 'Sources of axe stones at Tekadu

and tapa stones at the Watui ('Korpera') River
to the east of Tekadu were located a long
distance to the south and seem only to have
been visited twice from the Upper Watut in
living memory.'
An item with high trade value.
No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
Village:
Description.: GUM ON STICK USED IN TRADING

Aborigines.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: TORRES STRAITS - PAPUAN GULF AREA
Village:
Description.: Clubhead Stone Pineapple Shape

Called gaba-gaba.

Gaba-gaba stone headed clubs were first

described by one of Torres captains in 1606.
They were used in warfare, trade, ceremonies
and kept as treasured heirlooms. The ones used
by the islanders seem mainly to have been
manufactured in the islands and have been
traded (or travelled as spoils of war) as far west No Picture 2
as the Tugeri lands of Irian Jaya.
In the Torres Straits they were traded to and
from the mainland and, as a matter of interest,
Chalmers was killed with a stone gaba-gaba
club.
On Mer, rayed clubheads called "Seuriseuri"

were reserved for sorcery and ceremony
(Haddon 1912 ).
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: NEW IRELAND
Village:
Description.: ADZEBLADE STONE #562 NEW

IRELAND
Sydney.
A long stone adze blade.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: HEADBAND WOVEN
Description: From the Abelam People.

The Mountain Arapesh traded for woven
headbands from the plains peoples. Refer The
Mountain Arapesh by Margaret Mead.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: PIG JAW FULL CIRCLE TUSKS
Description: Purchased from Lawsons Tribal Arts

Auctions, Sydney in 1983.
It is a rare item as it is unbroken and, usually,

the skull is split in the pig killing ceremony.
The pig itself, and not the skull, was the

valuable item on the island but both the skull
and circular tusks are valued throughout the
Pacific.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

miles.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: NOSESTICK PIG TUSK



in PNG mythology.

village.
price.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Washkuk Area
Village:
Description.: DAGGER CASSOWARY BONE

INSCRIBED #892
Description: Daggers of cassowary bone,
especially those that were carved, were a
popular trade item in the Sepik and even more
valued in the Papuan Gulv/Torres Strait region
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Sepik
Village:
Description.: LIME SPATULA BONE inscribed
Description: Possibly not a true spatula.

It is broken at both ends and has carved
designs over all of the top surface. Obviously of
great age.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: MANUS
Description: One of the most valued money

items throughout New Guinea. Also used in
Bride Price.
Dogs teeth from this area are unusual in that

they are inscribed with custom designs.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: PAPUAN GULF COASTAL AREA AROUND
DARU ISLAND AREA/FLY RIVER
Village:

miles.
Torres Straits and Papua Gulf by Col Davidson.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: LAKE MURRAY
Description.: DIGGING STICK COCONUT

HUSKER CASSOWARY BONE
Cassowary bone knives were a popular trade
item from the New Guinea mailnand to the
Torres Strait where they were used as a tool
rather than a knife.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

miles.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

Stone blades were a particularly valued item in

these areas of little or no stone.
From its curved shape this adze was probably

used to hollow out their famous canoes traded
in the Fly River - Torres Strait trade.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: KIUNGA AT TOP OF FLY RIVER
Description.: ARMBAND PIG TUSKS (2)
Description: Pig tusk pendants are mentione by

Haddon as a highly valued money item in the
Papuan Gulf area.

miles.
Pig tusks were a popular trade item between

the New Guinea mainland and Torres Strait.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: FROM INDONESIAN SIDE OF FLY RIVER
Description.: NECKLACE BROWN SEEDS ETC.

More of a decirative item than money but was
used to "pay" Sweeney for some food.
This item was given to him by a native for a
trade for some minor foodstuff.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: SUKI LAGOON
Description.: PORCUPINE QUILLS

These are minor trade items with the quills
being used in arrow manufacture..
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: STRICKLAND RIVER
Description.: BELT WOVEN WITH COWRIES

Cowries were a high value trade item in the
area.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: LOWER FLY RIVER
Description.: HEADBAND CASSOWARY PLUMES
Description: Ex Kiwai Islanders and was called

Daguri
miles.
Haddon mentions these as an important trade
item between the Papuan Gulf and the Torres
Straits.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: DUGONG TOOTH (2)

In the distant past dugong tusks were traded on
the northern edge of the Simpson desert for
pituri and in the latter part of the 20th Century
dugong tusks were highly prized among
Kimberley people. They were traded to be used
as cigarette holders and other artifacts.
Dugong teeth were highly valued in the Massim

area where they used them as betel nut pestles
and lime spatulas.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

Cassowary bone knives were a popular trade
item from the New Guinea mailnand to the
Torres Strait where they were used as a tool
rather than a knife.
No Picture 2
District: GELA
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING POD

1980s
These were added to the end of shellstring
valuables.
No Picture 2
Village: NEBOI VILLAGE, NEA DISTRICT
Description.: CHARM NOMBA HUMAN LEG BONE
Collected by M L Clark. Painted with tumeric,

this is the leg bone of a man named Mepirpe.
After his recent death his brother, named
Mapulir, dug up the bone and used it as a charm
(Nomba) to add Mana to a feather roll passed
down to him from his brother.From Neboi
Village, Nea District of Santa Cruz. There were
no relatives to pass this on to and, as it
contained powerful Mana and power that could
endanger non-relatives, the villagers were keen
to pass it on to keep the village safe from it.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELL DISC CONUS

1980s
A valued cone shell pendant from South Malaita.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: WEIGHT -LION- 32 GRAM

USA.



as a money..
No Picture 2
Country: FRENCH CAMEROON
District:
Village:
Description.: ARMRING BRASS 5 RING COIL
Description: Called Ntschang
Ex Paul Dillingham, USA
Similar to Calabar Rods but shaped into a

ring/coil. See Quiggins page 87 to 88.
Confirmed by Fon of Bali, Garega III, as money
in the time of his grandfather (1890s).
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description: Warring States 475 - 221 BC
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Papuan Gulf Area
Village: BAMU RIVER AREA
Description.: PEARLSHELL CRESCENT MAIRI-

(KINA)
Description: From the collection of A L
Crawford.
A L Crawford is a recognised collector and
expert on most aspects of New Guines -
especially regarding the area around the
Papuan Gulf. He is an accomplished author of
many authoritative books on New Guinea
including Aida. Refer Quiggins p180 Fig 76
The Kina (called Mairi in the Papuan Gulf),
made of gold lip pearlshell, was used for bride
price, pig purchases and other payments. In the
1960s it was values as legal tender at twelve
shillings per pair.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: CASSOWARY FEATHER BUNDLE

BOUND UP FOR TRADE
Haddon mentions Cassowary feathers as a trade
item between the Papuan Gulf and the Torres
Straits.
Also see Quiggins page 135.
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District: Fang People, Gaboon River Area.
Village:
Description.: SPEAR HAFTED IRON BLADE
Description: Iron was money in many parts of

Africa (see Quiggin) and spearheds were
particularly valued as a monetary weapon.
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:

No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:

No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: SPEAR IRON BLADE WOOD SHAFT

No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: LIME SPATULA WOOD
Description: Lime spatulas are used to transfer

lime to the mouth of a person chewing betel
nut.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

nut.
No Picture 2
Country: MEXICO
District:
Village:
Description.: AXEBLADE TAU COPPER SMALL
Description: OAXACA, stylised copper model of

axe or hoe blade. A currency which circulated in
Oaxaca in early post-Columbian times.
No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
District:
Village:
Description.: STRING HUMAN HAIR
Description: Materials that were valued for

practical purposes were wood, fibre and resins
which were made into wooden shields and
spears, string made from human hair,
boomerangs, stone for grinding dishes and
axeheads.
Being valued they were traded widely.
Human hair string was a trade item among the

Australian Aborigine.
No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELL MELO CHISELS BALER

SHELL (2a,b)
Description: These Melo shells were highly
valued by the Aborigines, who used them to
store water. The name came about because
early Europeans recorded Aboriginal people
bailing out their canoes with these huge shells.
Radiocarbon dates of excavated items indicate
the exchange of baler shell into the heart of the
Great Sandy Desert 2000 years ago.
The major sources of ethnographic baler shell
objects in the interior of the continent were the
Gulf of Carpentaria and Cape York but shell was
also traded from the Pilbara and Kimberley
coast into the desert. The presence of baler
shell in late Pleistocene deposits at -12,400 BP
from Noala Caveand, at -18,700 BP at the Silver
Dollar site. Shark Bay and at -28,000 BP at
Widgingarri shelter, establish an early
archaeological context for use of baler shell in
N.W. Australia and its movement inland at least No Picture 2
70-100 km.
Dating of the shell implements show that, over
the last 20 centuries, baler shell has been
exchanged or traded into the heart of the Great
Sandy desert, greater than 400 km from the
nearest potential source of these shellfish.
These results imply the existence of a long-
distance exchange system from at least this
date.
Country: AUSTRALIA
District:
Village:
Description.: PEARLSHELL PENDANT INCISED

No Picture 2
Country: East Africa
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELL CONUS BASE
Description: called a mpade shell.
Ex Paul Dillingham, USA
Exactly as Quiggin page 50 Fig 7. Ex Farnum

collection. Mentioned Quiggins p50 "these end
whorls ...are prominent talismans in East
Africa".
They circulated as a medium of exchange in

Angola, Zambia, Mozambique ans Southern
Zaire.
Used as a currency to the west of Lake

Tanganyika and figured largely in ceremonial
presentations and bride price.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:

Ex Farnum collection.
No Picture 2
District: MALEKULA ISLAND
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING
Obtained from Paul Dillingham, USA with the

information - very old - actually obtained from
'King' Ringapat of the Big Nambas on Malekula
Island. Ex Tyrell Collection, ex Gibbs collection.
A lovely old item of shell money.

Country: YAP
District: KUSAIE
Village:
This item is called yar nu au and is often joined

to other similar items and then it is called botha
ayar. These are sourced locally and are classed
as being womens money just as the stone
money is mens. SHELL MONEY IS used on Yap
to purchase land, make war payments, pay
bride price, pay the mispil (mistress in
common) and as part of funeral ceremonies.
Shell money can be used to accompany an
apology for some transgression, not to buy
forgiveness but to physically represent the
apology. Of shell money Furness (1910, p.102)
recorded that botha-ayar, constructed from flat
pearl-shells, was the smallest denomination of
shell money and is used for local purchases.
See Quiggin Plate 11 Fig 1.
This example ex the Farnum Collection, ex No Picture 2
Brooklyn Museum.
Country: CANADA
District: Regina, Saskatchewan - 150 km from
Village: PLAINS CREE INDIANS
Description.: PIPE WITH STONE BOWL
Description: Purchased from a trader who dealt

with the indians.
He obtained it approximately 150 km from

Regina.
Tobacco, indigenous to North America, followed

Indian trade routes throughout the continent
long before Columbus arrived, and pipe
smoking took on a ritual and religious
importance in many tribes. Naturally, the
crafting of pipes became equally important.
The most famous Native American pipes are the

long calumets or "peace pipes" of the Sioux and
other Plains Indian tribes, which were made by
attaching a wooden stem to a bowl carved from
catlinite or "pipestone." (Pipestone is native to
Minnesota, but due to intertribal trade was No Picture 2
available throughout Native North America.)
Stone from which pipe is made has not been

identified.
A valuable item.
Country: ROMAN EMPIRE
District:
Village:
Description.: INGOT AES RUDE COPPER
Description: C 700 BC from a hoard found near

the Roman port of Ostia in 1983.
Central Italy, 8th - 3rd Century BC: AES Rude:
The First Roman "coin." Unformed cast bronze
fragment. "Tradition assigned the institution of
the Roman coinage to the period of the kings
Servius Tullus and Numa." Pliny quotes Timaeus
of Tauromenium in an inconsistent and confused
account of the establishment of Rome's coinage
and called these lumps of irregular weighing
bronzes without official stamp or mark of value
as Aes Rude or Aes Infectum. Fifth century
Rome did see the official valuation of bronze at
equivalents of oxen and sheep, when in c. 450
the decemvirs codified the Roman Law in the
famous 'Twelve Tablets' which recognized the
bronze currency in use in central Italy (i.e.,
1000 Asserae= 1 ox, 100 lbs of bronze = 1 ox,
10 Asserae= 1 sheep, etc). A system of barter No Picture 2
with copper objects had long existed in Central
Italy where copper was plentiful and valued
while silver was rare and gold nonexistent. The
Italic population had produced Aes Rude from
very early times and they are often found in
hoards of votive deposits to divinities of
fountains and rivers from the first half of the
8th century down to the end of the 4th century
B.C. Reference: Thurlow-Vecchi p. 15, pl. 2 (as
made).
Country: YAP
District:
Village:
Description.: STONE MONEY
Description: This item was purchased from

Money Mundus Auctions USA in 1984. It is one
of the smaller general use stone moneys of the
island.
Probably the most famous of all types of

Primitive Money - the Yap Stone Money.
The largest stone is round. It lies on the ground

and has a diameter of 3.6 metres, is 33 cm
thick and weighs several tons. This one is very
old and is 60mm in diameter x 35mm thick.
Quarried by the Yapese on the island of Palau

and then trandported to Yap for use as money.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MT. HAGEN
Village:
Description.: PEARLSHELL CRESCENT-KINA
Description: The Kina, made of gold lip

pearlshell, was used for bride price, pig
purchases and other payments. In the 1960s it
was values as legal tender at twelve shillings
per pair.
The red ochre and gum residue deposits show
that this Kina has gone through a Moka
cremony.
No Picture 2
Country: INDONESIA
District:
Village:
Description.: ARMRING SILVER PLATED

Sydney.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

nut.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

nut.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: LIME SPATULA TORTOISESHELL
Description: Tortoiseshell Spatuals were more

highly valued than similar ones of wood.
Lime spatulas are used to transfer lime to the

mouth of a person chewing betel nut.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: FEATHERS BIRD OF PARADISE

Auctions Sydney.

burned banana skins, a procedure that tallies
almost exactly with the mythical bird's reputed
treatment of its destroyed nest. Perhaps most
significant of all is the fact that the brilliantly
colored males of Count Raggi''s bird of paradise
are adorned with cascades of scarlet feathers
that, during their courtship dance, they No Picture 2
repeatedly raise aloft, while quivering intensely,
a spectacle reminiscent of the phoenix dancing
in its burning nest. On reaching the Middle East,
phoenix.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:

Auctions Sydney.

colored males of Count Raggi''''s bird of
paradise are adorned with cascades of scarlet
feathers that, during their courtship dance, they No Picture 2
phoenix.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:

Auctions Sydney.

colored males of Count Raggi''''s bird of
paradise are adorned with cascades of scarlet
feathers that, during their courtship dance, they No Picture 2
phoenix.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:

Auctions Sydney.

almost exactly with the mythical bird''s reputed
colored males of Count Raggi''s bird of paradise
are adorned with cascades of scarlet feathers
that, during their courtship dance, they No Picture 2
phoenix.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: probably Suau area, Southern Massim

nut.
No Picture 2
District: AOBA NORTH CENTRAL
Village: LOMBAHA AREA
Description.: MAT LONG

1980s
It is called Navahangfulu. The owner, a man
called Tavoa, would not allow it to be opened.
Used as money and for wrapping the dead.
No Picture 2
District: AOBA NORTH WEST
Village: DUIDUI AREA
Description.: MAT - VERY OLD - ABOUT TEN

FATHOMS.
1980s.
This mat is from the Duidui area of North West
Aoba in the New Hebrides. It is about ten
fathoms in length and is very old.
Called Lolongwalakesa and used as a true
money and to wrap the dead. It was actually
being held for the eventual death of an old
woman but theowner decided to sell it instead.
The previous owner was a native named Gui
and he refused to open it.
No Picture 2
District: PENTECOST ISLAND
Village:
Description.: MAT PENTECOST RED OLD

1980s
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: Hollow Handle Spade
Later Period. Obverse: "WU", a single character

at the bottom slightly left of center.
Zhou (Chou) Dynasty (770 BC - 221 BC).
No Picture 2
Country: CONGO
District: Lake Tanganyika
Village:
Description.: FETISH BAG/SHELLS
A magic item which includes some traded shells.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: INGOT BULLET MONEY SILVER

1/64
19th century silver coin of Siam.
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: COWRIE IMITATION STONE
Excavated from early graves.

Han or earlier
No Picture 2
Country: INDONESIA
District: LOMBOK ISLAND
Village:
Description.: EARRINGS METAL
Description: A valued item of wearable money.
No Picture 2
Country: Mortlock Islands
District:
Village:
Description.: ADZE HAFTED SHELL BLADE

Auctions, Sydney, Australia in 1984.
Where stone was scarce terebra mitre shells

were often used as adze blades.
The were readily accepted in trade.
No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
Village:
Description.: MESSAGE STICK WOOD
Description: About 250 languages were spoken

in 1788 with around 600 dialects. Message
sticks played an important part in
communication between Aboriginal groups.
Usually made from wood and were small and
easy to carry. They were carved, incised and
painted with symbols and designs conveying
messages and information. Some were
prepared hastily and others with care. Each
group had its own distinctive identifying marks
and often included marks to identify the carrier.
This way it could be identified and authenticated
by neighboring groups and by translators when
taken long distances. It helped support the oral
message that the carrier would provide,
especially when languages of groups were
different, and there were enough marks to
ensure that the original message would not be
misinterpreted. More importantly, the message No Picture 2
stick itself was a passport which gave the
carrier protection. When someone carrying a
message stick entered another groups area,
they announced themselves with smoke signals
and were then accompanied safely to the elders
to speak their verbal message. They were also
used to arrange for trading journeys and
meetings.
District:
Village:
Description.: SLINGSTONE
Description: Similar to items #1867.1.1535.2 in

the Pitt Rivers Museum.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Kukukuku
Village:
Description.: Necklace - bound pig penises,

Yellow Orchid Stems.
Description: A necklace containing bound pig
penises - (probably as a fertility charm). A
decorative wearable with minor trade value.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Kukukuku
Village:
Description.: Necklace of Nut, Crocodile Tooth,

Yellow Orchid Stems
Description: A necklace containing reed
segments, Job's Tears (coix seeds), nuts and a
crocodile tooth.
More decorative than monetary but would have
had minor trade value.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Kukukuku
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE Kukukuku
Description: A necklace containing obviously

very old cowries which had been traded all of
the way from the coast, bird bones, nuts and
Job's Tears (coix seeds).
A decorative wearable with money items
attached..
No Picture 2
Country: PACIFIC
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING

Auction, Sydney.
A shellstring from the Pacific - possibly the

Gilberts.
Unidentified.
No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
District:
Village:
Description.: MESSAGE STICK WOOD
Description: About 250 languages were spoken

in 1788 with around 600 dialects. Message
sticks played an important part in
communication between Aboriginal groups.
Usually made from wood and were small and
easy to carry. They were carved, incised and
painted with symbols and designs conveying
messages and information. Some were
prepared hastily and others with care. Each
group had its own distinctive identifying marks
and often included marks to identify the carrier.
This way it could be identified and authenticated
by neighboring groups and by translators when
taken long distances. It helped support the oral
message that the carrier would provide,
especially when languages of groups were
different, and there were enough marks to
ensure that the original message would not be
misinterpreted. More importantly, the message No Picture 2
stick itself was a passport which gave the
carrier protection. When someone carrying a
message stick entered another groups area,
they announced themselves with smoke signals
and were then accompanied safely to the elders
to speak their verbal message. They were also
used to arrange for trading journeys and
meetings.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: ANCIENT STEERING PADDLE

WOOD
Auctions, Sydney,
An ancient massim wooden steering paddle for

their canoes.
Very old and worn.
Non monetary - some important lime spatulas

were made in the style of such paddles.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MAY RIVER AREA
Village:
Description.: LIME SPATULA BONE

CEREMONIAL IN CANE CONTAINER
Description: I'm not sure that this item is a
spatula. It item might be a magic bone or the
bone of a relative. It was valued as can be seen
by the protective covering of cane.

No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: PIG TUSK FULL CIRCLE

1964 and 1973.


Strathern, M. (1977), For the people of Kalauna No Picture 2

in PNG mythology.

Rakua F (1987) After cooking, the pig head is

removed with the tusks intact and is presented
to the head of the village.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING MAPRIK

1964 and 1973.

maternal uncle, who later will help guide him No Picture 2
marriage, the groom presents yua to the brides
parents, the number he is able to give
becoming a lifelong source of pride. At death,
gifts of yua to maternal relatives help ease the
passage of the spirit to the afterlife. Shell rings
also play an integral role in ceremonial life.
They are displayed during male initiation, the
dedication of mens ceremonial houses, and
other occasions, as symbols of the strength and
wealth of the community.

emphasize another mans status or his affection
for him, will address him as wuna yua (my
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SEPIK
Village:

SHELL
1964 and 1973.

No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Kukukuku Menyamya Area
Village: Menyamya
Description.: CLUB HAFTED STONE HEAD

Kukukuku
1964 and 1973. He walked in and flew out of
the area.
This is a weapon from the Kukukuku cannibal

peopleand the head was highly valued in trade.

A popular trade item.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MAPRIK
Village:
Description.: HEADBAND NASSA

The nassa shell was one of the main money
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MT. HAGEN
Village:
Description.: STONE MORTAR

Sydney.
A marvellous and unique stone mortar from

Mount Hagen in New Guinea.

years old.

are rare.

No Picture 2
Country: WESTERN SAMOA
District:
Village:
Description.: MAT FINE WOVEN

1980s
Still (1984) being used in Bride Price, craftsman
payments, funerals and other ceremonial
events. This mat came from a Western Samoan
representative at a trade show in Honolulu.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: JINJO VILLAGE
Description.: NDAP KUGUAMA Class #5
Description: Previous owner was Gerald John

Clement of Jinjo Village.
Rossel
the denomination "Kuguama". These were made
Country: AFRICA
District: Lulua People
Village:
Description.: AXE HAFTED IRON ZAPPOZAP
Description: Collected prior to 1940.

A wealth item and popular trade item. Refer
Quiggins Plate 1 Fig 13.
No Picture 2
Country: INDONESIA
District: JAVA
Village:
Description.: AXEBLADE BRONZE

Sydney.
Ancient Bronze Age axe circa 300Bc
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MAPRIK
Village:
Description.: NASSA SHELL PENDANT MAPRIK
Description: The nassa shell was one of the

main money items in the Northern coastal area
of New Guinea. They were used for strictly
items of money and also wearable valuables.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: SAGO STIRRER WOOD
Description: Would have had minor trade/gift

value.
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: BEADS
Description: Valued items for wearing and

valued in trade.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: CALVADOS CHAIN - Massim
Village: NIMOWA ISLAND
Description.: NECKLACE SAMAKUPA - MASSIM
Description: Called Katudababile (or Samakupa

among the Southern Massim ) a necklace which
is used in Dobu in place of the Mwali armshells.
A very important wearable valuable.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NECKLACE BAGI - MASSIM
Description: Called Bagi or Bak. Worn as

decoration over the shoulders and neck by
women usually at feasts or important
celebrations. An important item used in trade to
purchase pigs, etc. Also used as a serious
pledge of a man's intentions and as part of the
Bride Price or Marriage Exchange. Scarce.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NECKLACE CALLED SOULAVA OR

BAGI - MASSIM
Description: Soulava or Bagi properly so-called
and one of the most valuable of traditional
items of exchange or money. Used as the other
Bagi but of much greater value. Not usually
worn as a body decoration. This is the actual
item iIllustrated in the photograph on page 57
in "Adorned" book by Edmundsdon & Boylan.
Macleay Museum.
Rare.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
From the Gardner Collection. He excavated it

from the Siam/Chinese border in the early
1960s.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
From the Gardner Collection. He excavated it

from the Siam/Chinese border in the early
1960s.
No Picture 2
Country: CAROLINE ISLANDS
District: Truk Island
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE COCONUT DISCS

called sek or sak
These had been held in storage since 1939.

See Quiggins page140 .
"Strings are made on Truk in the Central
Carolines of a special
coconut which has no kernel, called losil (Petri,
shell-money, Gil- 1936, p. 203), and the strings
are called sek or sak. These
we their estimation to their attractive
appearance, and as they are tedious and
irksome to
make they are not very common, and are highly
valued and traded from island to island. They
find their way to Yap and take part in the inter-
insular trade with the Pelews. Normally the
strings are of small disks, no larger than those
of shell,"
The above is a direct quote from Quiggins. No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: INGOT FLOWER MONEY SILVER 7

GMS
Description: Called Ywetni used from before
1287 in Burma. Refer Opitz p380.
(Ka Kim) monies.
No Picture 2
Country: SWEDEN
District:
Village:
Description.: PLATE MONEY 1 DALER
Description: Swedish Coin (Plate Money)

Coin of 1 Daler dated 1723
In 1643, the first plate money was issued in the

denomination of 10 Daler SM (1 Daler SM = 96
re at the time). These plates were
approximately 13 by 27 inches in size and
weighed 43 pounds. Today, these first plates are
rare and may only be found in museums. The
Coinage Act of 1649 stipulated plates in
denominations of 1, 2, 4 and 8 silver Dalers.
There were other coinage acts and after 1684
the denominations were 1/2, 1, 2 and 4 silver
Dalers. Metal content also decreased over time
such that 1 Daler SM weighed 3.5 pounds in
1660 and settled at 1.7 pounds in 1715. The
year last plates were produced in quantity was
1759 with some 2 Daler plates in 1760. There
are also rare plates from 1768. No Picture 2
Plates will have four corner stamps bearing the

name or initials of the current monarch and the
year of issue. The center stamp will bear the
denomination. The reverse will be blank. Some
plates will bear an additional stamp due to
redenomination. Many plates show signs of the
manufacturing process with hammer marks.
The copper would be formed into sheets of
neccessary thickness, cut to size with shears,
then stamped.
This was hand work using large tools and
provides each plate with a unique character.
Country: CONGO
District:
Village: Bambuti (Mbuti) People
Description.: KNIFE DAGGER STEEL BLADE

#476
Description: #476 These pygmies acquire
knives and spearheads by trading bagged
quarry. The handle is attached to what was
once a spear or arrowhead.
Highly valued by them and received in trade.
No Picture 2
Country: BORNEO
District:
Village: DYAK
Description.: BEAR TOOTH PENDANT
Description: Valued for its power in transferring

the attributes of a bear to the wearer.
Mentioned by James Brooke in the 1840s as
being worn then.
No Picture 2
Country: PHILLIPINES
District:
Village:
Description.: BEADS GLASS TINY #445
Description: Hand made. From Tingiiayan, Abra

Zambradles tribe.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLRINGS CONUS SMALL #446

(5)
Description: Tg\hese were found in excavated
Chinese graves in the Philippines.
Buried with the dead to supply a money in the

afterlife.
No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
Village:
Description.: STONE SEEDGRINDER #237

It is a grinding dish for seeds. A favoured trade

item among the Aborigines. Often called a
Nardoo Dish.
No Picture 2
Country: New Guinea
District: Bougainville Island
Village: Buka Island area
Description.: AXEBLADE STONE -JANUS-
Description: In north Bougainville there were

large, double ended stone axe blades with a
cane haft that were not work tools but were
important components of brideprice payments
even in the 20th century (Blackwood 1935:405,
Parkinson 1898-99:25-26, 1999[1907]:217-
18). This is such a currency axe.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MT. HAGEN
Village:
Description.: CLUBHEAD STONE STAR SHAPE
Description: This item is prehistoric and comes

from Mt Hagen. where it was found in a stream.
It is possible that it is part of the

interesting series of stone mortars, pestles and
figures, many of which appear to have been
traded, which have been found throughout
much of New Guinea and the North Eastern
islands.
If so it is probably 3500-7500 years old.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MT. HAGEN
Village:
Description: A tally of how many pigs and/or

pearlshells that a man has given in ceremonial
exchanges - the value of a big-man's worth.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MT. HAGEN
Village:
Description: Small axe/adze blade foe work use.

As such was a popular trade item.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MOUNT HAGEN
Village:
Description.: HEADBAND NASSA SHELL ON

BARK
Exchange Ceremony.
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District: Northern Africa Sahara
Village: Tuareg People
Description.: KNIFE STEEL BLADE IN SHEATH

#360 - Arm Dagger
Description: A standard valued blade.
No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
Village:
Description.: KNIFE STONE - Man's

the woman's.
No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
District: KIMBERLY COAST
Village:
Description.: SHELL MELO BAILER #407
Description: These Melo shells were highly

valued by the Aborigines, who used them to
store water. The name came about because
early Europeans recorded Aboriginal people
bailing out their canoes with these huge shells.
Radiocarbon dates of excavated items indicate
the exchange of baler shell into the heart of the
Great Sandy Desert 2000 years ago.
The major sources of ethnographic baler shell
objects in the interior of the continent were the
Gulf of Carpentaria and Cape York but shell was
also traded from the Pilbara and Kimberley
coast into the desert. The presence of baler
shell in late Pleistocene deposits at -12,400 BP
from Noala Caveand, at -18,700 BP at the Silver
Dollar site. Shark Bay and at -28,000 BP at
Widgingarri shelter, establish an early
archaeological context for use of baler shell in
N.W. Australia and its movement inland at least No Picture 2
70-100 km.
Dating of the shell implements show that, over
the last 20 centuries, baler shell has been
exchanged or traded into the heart of the Great
Sandy desert, greater than 400 km from the
nearest potential source of these shellfish.
These results imply the existence of a long-
distance exchange system from at least this
date.
Country: AUSTRALIA
District:
Village:
Description.: Feather (Emu) Decoration In Hair

For Initiation Ceremony.
Description: A trade item among the Aborigines.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: LIMESTICK WOOD W/FEATHER

DECORATION #261
Description: The spatula is serrated and
imported from the Plains - used only by men
and men of standing accustomed to express
impatience or disapproval by loudly rattling
their spatulas against the side of their lime
gourds. Also has a homicide symbol as
decoration.
From the book "Naven" by Gregory Bateson

Pages 46 & 72
Called a Tambointsha
Tambointsha are tassels of feathers tied to
string. They are symbols of successful homicide
and worn on the lime stick as a tally of the
owner''s successful kills. A kill may be scored
for homicide achieved by means of ndja?nbwia,
but not for homicides achieved by other magical
techniques.
The act of presenting a tambointsha to the angk
-au thus falls into the same pattern as the
presentation of tambointsha described on p. 99.
In both cases we may see a formal recognition
of the fact that the damage done was a
legitimate act of vengeance.
District: TANNA ISLAND
Village:
Description: Obtained from Mrs H Fox.
Mats and skirts were and are still (1985) used

as gifts to honour relatives, presented to newly
married couples and presented to visitors to a
village. Skirts are traditional gifts to visitors and
chiefs.
Mrs Fox was presented with this skirt on a visit

to a Tannese Village.
No Picture 2
Country: ENGLAND
District:
Village:
Description.: AXEBLADE BRONZE
Description: Bronze socketed axe of the so-

called "Breton" type which was apparently
imported into England in some numbers around
600BC. Excavated in Wiltshire in 1985- usually
attributed to the Amorican tribe of Gaul in
whose region most finds have been made.
No Picture 2
Country: SWEDEN
District:
Village:
Description.: PLATE MONEY 4 DALER
Description: Swedish Coin (Plate Money)

Coin of 4 Daler dated 1730
In 1643, the first plate money was issued in the

denomination of 10 Daler SM (1 Daler SM = 96
re at the time). These plates were
approximately 13 by 27 inches in size and
weighed 43 pounds. Today, these first plates are
rare and may only be found in museums. The
Coinage Act of 1649 stipulated plates in
denominations of 1, 2, 4 and 8 silver Dalers.
There were other coinage acts and after 1684
the denominations were 1/2, 1, 2 and 4 silver
Dalers. Metal content also decreased over time
such that 1 Daler SM weighed 3.5 pounds in
1660 and settled at 1.7 pounds in 1715. The
year last plates were produced in quantity was
1759 with some 2 Daler plates in 1760. There
are also rare plates from 1768. No Picture 2
Plates will have four corner stamps bearing the

name or initials of the current monarch and the
year of issue. The center stamp will bear the
denomination. The reverse will be blank. Some
plates will bear an additional stamp due to
redenomination. Many plates show signs of the
manufacturing process with hammer marks.
The copper would be formed into sheets of
neccessary thickness, cut to size with shears,
then stamped.
This was hand work using large tools and
provides each plate with a unique character.
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: ARROW METAL HEAD WOOD

SHAFT#476
Sydney.
The metal, whether in arrowheads or

spearheads was always a popular trade item.
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:

SHAFT#476
Sydney.

No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:

SHAFT#476
Sydney.

No Picture 2
Country: FIJI
District:
Village:
Description.: WHALE TOOTH TAMBUA #455
Description: Collected by a Mr Ralph Snowden

(????-1923) who was a marine engineer (Chief
Engineer) with Burns Philp in the Island Trade
during the period 1890-1900. Two of the ships
he sailed in were the SS Guthrie and the SS
Gunga. He is mentioned on page 50 of
"Collecting New Guinea Art" published by
Michael Hamson. His grandson, a Mr "Bud"
Snowden, who worked at Lawsons at the time,
offered them for auction at Lawsons from where
I purchased them.
Called Tambua
.

marriage.

See Opitz page 379.

Country: FIJI
District:
Village:

I purchased them.
Called Tambua
.

marriage.

See Opitz page 379.

Country: FIJI
District:
Village:

I purchased them.
Called Tambua
.

marriage.

See Opitz page 379.

District:
Village:
Description.: TO UBA ARMBAND #506

I purchased them.

The true name is Te Uba.
Quiggins states ''To-uba is the name of a very
central hole, but are drilled at the projecting
close
together that the circles overlap'.
Country: MARSHALL ISLANDS
District:
Village:
Description.: CORD PLAITED IHRIK #488

I purchased them.
Highly valued. Short lengths can be cut off and
used in low value exchanges. Refer Quiggins
page 133.
Country: MARSHALL ISLANDS
District:
Village:
Description.: FISHHOOK SHANKS (2) #520

I purchased them.
A high valued money item of the area.
District:
Village:
Description.: MAT OLD
Description: A lovely and rare mat from the

New Hebrides. Somewhat similar to the Roso
mat of Aoba (see C.0277).
A nive example of wearable money.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: NEW IRELAND
Village:
Description.: ANCIENT ADZEBLADE CLAMSHELL

Auctions, Sydney
A highly valued trade/money item of the area.

Shell was used as stone was scarce.
Ex the Moriarty Collection.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Siassi
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING TROCHUS #373

These trochus shell armrings were a standard

monetary valuable in this area and have edge
engravings that are said to be clan signs.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: WOSERA REGION
Village: ABELAM PEOPLE
Description.: DAGGER CASSOWARY BONE #469
Description: Daggers of cassowary bone,

especially those that were carved, were a
popular trade item in the Sepik and even more
valued in the Papuan Gulv/Torres Strait region
No Picture 2
Country: SOLOMONS
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING CONUS
Description: Obtained from lawsons Tribal Art

Auctions in 1985.
It is unusual for a money shellstring from the

Solomons in that it is made from tiny conus
shells.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:

1980s.
Called Hokata

to chiefs by men for the sexual services of
ritually designated women. They were also used
to decorate skull shrines of important men.
It is presumed, from the shape and size, that

this shell is conus (it might be clamshel?)
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SUDEST ISLAND
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING TROCHUS W/SAPI

#223
Auctions in 1985.
This is an extremely rare trochus shell armring

from Sudest Island. It is decorated banana seed
pods and red shell discs as is normal for
decorating the Kula conus armrings.
Only an important big-man would have such an

item and it would be worn at feasts and
significant ceremonies.
Maria Lepowsky, in her review of Annette B

Weiners book Inalienable Possessions: The
Paradox of Keeping-While Giving, gives her
opinion that these decorated Trochus shell
bracelets are metaphorical substitutes for
human jawbone bracelets. These used to be
worn on Vanatinai (Sudest) Island. Refer to the No Picture 2
link:
https://ojs.lib.byu.edu/spc/index.php/PacificStu
dies/article/viewFile/9927/9576
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MURIK LAKES AREA
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING NASSA -TAUTAU-

I purchased them.
Tis item appears to be very similar to the
"MAIJ" shell money of the area. The maij are
illustrated In Quiggins book (p173) on Primitive
Moneys and also by the German ethnologists
Finsch and Schneider. The only difference
between this money item and the Maij seems to
be the fact that the Maij is usually double strand
of nassa (although this is much longer). From
the Murik Lakes area and possibly an early form
of Maij which possibly later evoved to the two
strand variety.
It is over 100 years old.

District:
Village:
Description.: TO UBA SMALL PORTION

I purchased them.
rare and attractive type of Conus
string from the Gilberts, formerly used as
currency. The strings are made of Conus
eburneus apices of various sizes from inch to
over i inch in diameter, and may be of girdle,
necklace
(Fig. 53) or only arm-band length. The disks are
not strung like ordinary Conus tips through the
central hole, but are drilled at
the projecting edge of the spiral, and bound on
to a cord so close
together that the circles overlap''.
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: TEA BRICK
Description: From Wikipedia: Due to the high

value of tea in many parts of Asia, tea bricks
were used as a form of currency throughout
China, Tibet, Mongolia, and Central Asia. This is
quite similar to the use of salt bricks as
currency in parts of Africa. Tea bricks were in
fact the preferred form of currency over metallic
coins for the nomads of Mongolia and Siberia.
The tea could not only be used as money and
eaten as food in times of hunger but also
brewed as allegedly beneficial medicine for
treating coughs and colds. Until World War II,
tea bricks were still used as a form of edible
currency in Siberia.

province. The bricks were produced in five
different qualities and valued accordingly. The No Picture 2
Country: SUMERIA
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLRINGS SMALL (3)
Description: These are minor shell trade items

which would have been worn as ornaments.
It is recorded that the Sumerians imported

conch shells from Ceylon and probably obtained
other shells from their many trade partners.
They were excavated and date to about 3500 to

3000BC.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: STONE GRINDER FOR

SHELLSTRINGS
1964 and 1973.
A rare item used to finish shellstrings. The

grooves are where the strings of shell discs
were ground and polished to shape.

No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELL CHAMA PACIFICA

1964 and 1973.
This is the type of shell which is used for much

of the important red money strings of these
islands.
No Picture 2
District: TORRES STRAIT
Village:
Description.: TRUMPET TRITON SHELL

I purchased them.
It is a trumpet made from a Triton Shell and

comes from the Torres Straits area of Australia.

Over 100 years old.

Country: PACIFIC
District:
Village:
Description.: SEEDS STRING BLACK
Description: Purchased from Lawsons Tribal Arts

Auction in 1986 with a batch of primitive
moneys. Not identified as menetary.
No Picture 2
Country: PUERTO RICO
District: Collares
Village: Juana Diaz
Description.: CELT
Description: Period 100-700 AD
No Picture 2
Country: PUERTO RICO
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELL GOUGE
Description: Excavated in Santa Isabel, Puerto

Rico. Taino Indians pre-Columbian who mainly
traded within their island. Although the Antilles
had major trading between the islands and did
trade shells for ornaments, it is not certain that
this was a monetary item or purely a tool.
Probably had minor trade value.
Cassis tuberosa (conch shell)
No Picture 2
Country: MIDDLE EAST
District:
Village:

valued in trade.
No Picture 2
Country: PHOENICIA
District:
Village:

valued in trade.
Circa 7th to1st Century BC
No Picture 2
Country: PHOENICIA
District:
Village:
Description.: BEADS SMALL

valued in trade.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description: Probably Sepik area - in this case a

steel blade had supplanted the stone.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: GOURD OIL CONTAINER
Description: Non-monetary in itself but it held

the vegetable Tegasso oil which was a very
important trade item ftom the New Guinea
Highlands to the Lowlands.
A rare item.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: CELT STONE
Description: Excavated. American Indian stone

celt. A trade item.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Sepik
Village:
Description.: LIMESTICK & GOURD (a,b)
Description: The lime gourd is interesting in

that it possibly shows a Cristian cross and
church (?)
A minor gift and minor trade item.
Normally made from the bones of the

cassowary but some were made from the leg
bones of deceased relatives.
Some limesticks have magic attributes, others

have homicide emblems showing the number of
heads taken and others show the degree of
importance of the owner. Important ones are
handed down as valued heirlooms.
No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
District: DERBY
Village:
Description.: GUM RESIN NODULES

Aborigines.
No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
District:
Village: KIMBERLEY
Description.: SPEARPOINT GLASS (2-a,b)

Sydney.
Shaped stone tools were used as spearheads

and knives and were a very popular trade item
in the North of Australia.
stone.
stone.
whites.

regarded more as ritual or status objects, as No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
District: BROOME
Village:
Description.: PEARLSHELL PENDANTS SMALL (3

-a,b,c)
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Sepik
Village:
Description.: SHELL WHORLS CONUS (4)
Description: These conus shell pieces are highly

valued monetary items from the Sepik area.
Used for important purchases and bride price.
From Lawsons Tribal Art Auction in 1986.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: SPEAR-THROWER BECKET
Description: Similar to item #1886.1.1678 in

Pitt Rivers Museum which was collected by
Captain Cook.
See Quiggin p169 Fig 65.
Collected in 19th Century by Captain William

Campbell Thomson. Born in 1855 in Glasgow,
Scotland his obituary notes that he commanded
A.U.S.N. steamers from 1875 to 1919 most
notably, the Arawatta, Aramac, Levuka,
Wyreema, Wyandra and Wodonga. During his
44 years of service, he traveled the eastern
Australian coast, New Guinea, New Caledonia,
Fiji and other parts of the South Pacific.
Thomson was a well respected seaman who was
the author of at least three publications. He was
captain of the Croydon when it was chartered
by Alexander Agassiz, the famous American
scientist and engineer, on a voyage from
Brisbane to Cooktown in April/May 1896.
Thomson gathered a fine collection of items,
including items from northern Queensland, PNG
and Fiji. Part of the collection, left to one of his
daughters, Eulie Round rested in a house in
Caloundra, Qld from 1935 until it was moved to
Brisbane many decades later. This part of the
collection numbers over 20 items. Sold at
Pickles Auctions, Sydney Sept 1986.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Huon Gulf/East NewBritain
Village:
Collected by William Campbell Thomson in the

19th century. Born in 1855 in Glasgow, Scotland
he commanded A.U.S.N. steamers including the
Arawatta, Aramac, Levuka, Wyreema, Wyandra
and Wodonga. During his 44 years of service,
he travelled the eastern Australian coast, New
Guinea, New Caledonia, Fiji and other parts of
the South Pacific. He was a well respected
seaman who was the author of at least three
publications. He served on the missionary ship
John Wesley and was captain of the Croydon
when it was chartered by Alexander Agassiz on
the two voyages of exploration. Thomson
gathered a fine collection of items, including
items from northern Queensland, PNG and Fiji
(he knew Chief Cakobau). Part of the collection,
left to one of his daughters, Eulie Round (born
Esther Eulalie Thomson), rested in a house in
Caloundra, Queensland, from 1935 until it was
moved to Brisbane many decades later. Part of
the collection including oceanic artefacts sold at
Pickles Auctions, Sydney September 1986.
Country: PACIFIC
District:
Village:
Description.: BAG STRING
Description: Provenance: Collected by William

daughters, Eulie Round (born Esther Eulalie
Thomson), rested in a house in Caloundra,
Queensland, from 1935 until it was moved to
collection numbers over 20 items, including
oceanic artefacts. Sold at Pickles Auctions,
Sydney September 1986.
Country: PACIFIC
District:
Village:
Description.: BEADS WHITE GLASS STRUNG

Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

Description: Illustrated on page 174 of Second
Series of Edge Partington''''''''s "Ethnographic
Album of the Pacific Iislands".
Extremely Rare
Collected by William Campbell Thomson. Born in
1855 in Glasgow, Scotland his obituary notes
that he commanded A.U.S.N. steamers from
1875 to 1919 most notably, the Arawatta,
Aramac, Levuka, Wyreema, Wyandra and
Wodonga. During his 44 years of service, he
traveled the eastern Australian coast, New
Guinea, New Caledonia, Fiji and other parts of
the South Pacific. He was a well respected
seaman who was the author of at least three
publications. He was captain of the Croydon
when it was chartered by Alexander Agassiz,
the famous American scientist and engineer, on
a voyage from Brisbane to Cooktown in
April/May 1896. Thomson gathered a fine
collection of items from northern Queensland,
PNG and Fiji. Part of the collection, left to one of
his daughters, Eulie Round , rested in a house
in Caloundra, Qld, from 1935 until moved to
Brisbane decades later. This part of the
Sydney Sept 1986.
Country: PACIFIC
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE SHELL DISCS/DOG

TEETH
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: NOSESTICK CLAMSHELL -NII-

CLAMSHELL
Stated in Armstrongs book that only chiefs can

wear these nosesticks of over a certain length.
This one would have only been worn by a man
of ordinary status. Of high value.
Country: New Guinea
District: New Britain
Village:
Description.: CASSOWARY QUILL/CONUS DISC

ON FIBRE
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELL DISCS (3) ON CARD

Country: AUSTRALIA
District:
Village:
Description.: GUM - probably Spinifex

Aborigines.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: AXE HAFTED STONE BLADE

MASSIM
Description: The blade is called Tobotobo, the
haft is Tobotobo Nimane. Once used in everday
work but now purely ceremonial. During
exchanges the stone blade is pushed firmly into
the haft but, after the ceremony, is placed in a
box or buried near the house. Obtained from a
village man of Nimowa called Tawina.
In the Trobriands the stone blade is caled
Benam or Beku.
Of the axeblade itself - Debbora Bataglia tells us

that the original owner of such axeblades, if
they know the correct magic, can get two of
them to breed and produce small blades.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA

CEREMONIAL LIMESTICK - MASSIM
Description: Called Hiyenga, Gabaela, Ghena
and Ghenaga.
Advised September 27, 2011 by Richard
Aldridge:-SPATULAS MASSIM tortoiseshell
Ghena
Basically, Ghena spatulas are not at all lime
spatulas, but they are presented to a widow as
the last part of the price of a wife when her
husband dies. Ghena is the rough translation of
a crescent, so they can be made of wood
(Ghena in the language Sudest Gobayla in the
language of Calvados) or tortoise (Ghena
wanamo).
For a funeral ceremony the parties may request
more than five years of preparation and they
are organized by the family of a deceased
person. A Sudest funeral feast can last a week.
The widow and her family are shown with stone
axes and shell money called Ghena, Daveri and No Picture 2
spatulas. Spatula Ghena has the most meaning
and is kept in memory of the deceased,
although the bagi (currency red Spondylus)
which is attached along its top edge is often
recycled. Essentially the party purifies the
widow, allowing her to remarry. Women are
painted with traditional designs of tattoos and
long skirts are shortened according to the usual
ceremony. At that time they will be presented
with stone axe blades and Daveri, a shell
money, which are placed in a basket on the
deceaseds head.
Spatulas tortoiseshell Ghena are put in his

cuffs. Many taboos are lifted during this
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NDAP YUDONGUTUO Class #10

Rossel
the denomination " Yudongutuo ". These were
rarity)
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: STONE PESTLE -MPUEMA- OR -

MBIMA-
Called Mpuema.
It is a prehistoric item but, more recently, was

used in rain making and was regarded as being
a gift from the magic people of Rossel Island.
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: WEIGHT BRASS FROG
Description: A very old gold weight from Africa.

It is in the shape of a frog.

No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: BEADS PONY BEADS

valued in trade.
No Picture 2
District: MOUNTAIN PROVINCE
Village: TAM-AN VILLAGE
Description.: ARMBAND PIG TUSKS WOOD

CARVED RICE GOD
Sydney.
A headhunters armlet, called tankil, is made

from two tusks and a wooden figure which
represents the headhunters victim. When a
young man has reached the age of initiation, he
must go alone into the mountain to hunt for a
wild pig whose tusk will be used to make the
armlet. Only after that can the young man
participate in a headhunting expedition. The
tankil is worn during ritual ceremonies
throughout Northern Luzon, Philippines.
From the Bontoc people and only a man with
headhunter status can wear the tangkil.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: EAR PENDANT GREENSTONE
Description: An old standard valuable made of

Pounamu (also called Greenstone). This ear
pendant is probably made from bowenite, or
serpentinite
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: SPEARHEAD IRON BLADE

Sydney.
This iron spearhead was traded to the islanders

by Europeans and takes the place of the
customary obsidian blade.
A valued trade item and probably 19th Century.
No Picture 2
Country: INDONESIA
District: BALI
Village:

illustration8.
No Picture 2
Country: INDONESIA
District: BALI
Village:
Description.: STONE PESTLE & MORTAR
Description: This is a prehistoric stone mortar

and pestle from Bali which is prehistoric.
It is presumed to have a reasonable trade

value.
No Picture 2
Country: INDONESIA
District: BALI
Village:
Description.: JARLET CHINESE
Description: Jarlet, found on the island of Bali,

is presumed to be old Chinese and possibly
traded from java which had trade ties to the
Chinese.
No Picture 2
Country: INDONESIA
District: FLORES ISLAND
Village:
Description.: GONG DRUM MOKKO
Description: Mokos were used to pay a bride

price, to finance the construction of a family
house or a funeral. A family usually did not
have enough mokos and so for this purpose
borrowed the large metal objects from their
relatives and friends. To do this a kind of
interest was paid: the debtors found themselves
obliged to pay back higher quality mokos than
those they had borrowed. For this purpose
festivals were held at regular
intervals. Only in this connection were mokos
used as musical instruments.
No Picture 2
Country: INDONESIA
District: BALI
Village:
Description.: GONG DRUM DONGSON STYLE
Description: Said to have been used in bride

Price in Singaraja.
Bali has a 2000 year history of making
Pejeng/Dongson style drums.
No Picture 2
Country: INDONESIA
District: BALI
Village:
Description.: ANKLERINGS (PAIR)
Description: Very old and worn. Made from a

white metal.
No Picture 2
Country: INDONESIA
District: BALI
Village:
Description: Purchased in Bali.
Probably Bronze Age - 200BC
No Picture 2
Country: INDONESIA
District: BALI
Village: SANUR
Description.: PORCELAIN CUPS SMALL
Description: Obtained on Bali and from very old

trading by the Chinese and Macassars.
No Picture 2
Country: INDONESIA
District: BALI
Village:

No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: AXE HAFTED METAL BLADE

Sydney.
Metal axe heads and hoes were a popular

monetary/trade item.
No Picture 2
Country: SOUTHERN KENYA NORTH TANZANIA
District:
Village: MASAI TRIBE
Description.: KNIFE STEEL SWORD MAASAI
Description: Called Simi
A blade, highly valued in trade.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Kukukuku Watut
Village: Watut
Description.: STONE TAPA BEATER KUKUKUKU

Sydney.
Burton in ''Fratricide and Inequality'' advises

that main valuables among the Watut people
are salt, cowrie shells, axe blades and stone
tapa-beaters.
He also states ''Sources of axe stones at Tekadu

and tapa stones at the Watui (''Korpera'') River
to the east of Tekadu were located a long
distance to the south and seem only to have
been visited twice from the Upper Watut in
living memory.''
An item with high trade value.
No Picture 2
Country: EASTER ISLAND
District:
Village:
Description.: SPEARHEAD OBSIDIAN MATAA

Sydney.
Tradition re the Mataa: The weapons brought
to the island by King Hotu Matua and his
followers, in the course of time, became broken,
lost, or destroyed. The clans were continually at
war with each other but, from the want of
proper weapons, the encounters resulted in
little loss of life. Spears were made of the sharp
edges of the calabash, but proved inefficient
and did little damage. During the reign of Atura-
ugi, the sixth king, a man living near the crater
of the Rana Kau, while returning to his home
from Temanevai, where he and his companions
had been engaged in a useless struggle,
stepped in the darkness upon a sharp stone
that cut his foot like a knife. He carried the
stone home with him and found it to be black
volcanic glass which when broken showed No Picture 2
vitreous edges such as had cut his foot.
Believing he had discovered an effective
material for the manufacture of war-heads, he
substituted the obsidian for the calabash points
and went to meet his enemies. The new weapon
proved more powerful than he had hoped for,
and havoc was created in the ranks of his
opponents. Armed with spear-heads obtained
from the obsidian mountain Orito, the
discoverer and his clan swept everything before
them until the new material became known to
all the people.
Since the time of this discovery the encounters
of the islanders are more bloody.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: KIRIWINA ISLAND
Description: An important and valued item used

in the Kula Trade Cycle as a trade item and for
important gifts.
Previous owner was Harry Beran a world
authority on the Massim.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: KIRIWINA ISLAND
Description: An important and valued item used

in the Kula Trade Cycle as a trade item and for
important gifts.
Previous owner was Harry Beran a world
authority on the Massim.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: TRUMPET TRITON SHELL SEPIK
Description: It is a trumpet made from a Triton

Shell and comes from the Sepik area of New
Guinea.

This is a very old, ancient item.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SEPIK
Village:
Description.: ADZEBLADE STEEL
Description: One of the favoured trade/money

items of the early times.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NDAP WUOBA Class #6

Rossel
the denomination " Wuoba ". These were made
Country: MESOPOTAMIA
District:
Village:
Description.: CLAY TABLET CUNEIFORM 42mm

x 33mm x 14mm
Description: At times had records of trade and
owings.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:

Auctions, Sydney
Collected in the Cambridge area (Mangakawa

Hill)
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: WOODEN PIG

Auctions, Sydney, Australia
Schulman (page 63) stated that it was a form

of money. This is doubtful but it is possible that
it was a symbol of wealth.
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description: Manilla style monetary bracelet.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: AXEBLADE FLINT
Description: Highly valued as a trade or gift

item.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: ARROWHEADS STONE (2) AND

GUN FLINT
Description: The gun flint was a popular trade
item in the early 1800s. The arrowheads were
always a popular trade item.
No Picture 2
District: MALAITA ISLAND
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING LEG DECORATION

KETEKOME
Description: Obtained from G K Grey Auctions,
Sydney.
Called Ketekome.
A shell money used as a leg decoration.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: LOUISIADES --Massim
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE DOGA - MASSIM
Description: Collected prior to 1900 by William

James Weddell a Master Mariner who had his
Captain's Ticket. He died aged 45 or 46 in 1904.
Purchased from his grand daughter, Mrs Betty
Caldwell, on 31/7/1987.
A very valued monetary item from the Papuan

Gulf to the Massim area.
No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
District:
Village:
Description.: SPEARHEAD IRON BLADE
Description: Obtained from lawsons Tribal Art

Auctions.


stone.
The iron spear points were highly valued.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:

Auctions, Sydney.
A standard ancient stone adze blade.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: LIME SPATULA WOOD - MASSIM

nut.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NDAP TEBUDONGWO Class #8


Rossel.
the denomination " "Tebudongwo" but was told
that the name in pure Rossel was
"Tebudonduwo". These were made by a god and
were used in Brideprice, the price for killing a
man, warfare payments, funerary payments,
and as the price for part of the body of the
victim at a cannibal feast (the Rossel Islanders
were cannibals because their god Wonajo was a
cannibal). Of the highest rarity)
existence. This item was part of the price of a No Picture 2
twenty five pages to them.
It is probable that, after the Yap Stone Money,

these are the most important
of Pacific Primitive Moneys. An important and
extremely rare item.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NDAP KEJIM Class #3

Rossel
the denomination "Kejim". These were made by
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: STRING
Description: Minor trade/gift value.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: FEATHER HEADBAND
Description: Ex collection of R Taylor Orange but

sold in Molong by Raine & Horne Auctioneers.
Colourful feathers were a popular trade/money

item throughout New Guinea.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: STRING APRON WOVEN
Description: Minor trade/Gift value.
No Picture 2
Country: JAPAN
District:
Village:
Description.: COIN RECTANGULAR SILVER

Iddhu Gin Kaei Period 1853-65
No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
District: CENTRAL DESERT
Village:

source.

No Picture 2
District:
Village:

Auctions, Sydney.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: NEW BRITAIN ISLAND
Village:
Description.: STONE FIGURE CHALK ANIMAL

Sydney.
The Visual Arts: Plastic and Graphic - edited by

Justine M. Cordwell - Pages 354 and 355
The figures from the Gazelle Peninsular made
from the harder and coarser tufa are not limited
to human beings, but include also animals such
as pigs, dogs, birds, fishes and marsupials. The
human figures are different from the above
described kulap figures insofar as they are often
given with arms extended from the shoulders
and hands touching the ears........
.
The Minerals of New South Wales, Etc. By
Archibald Liversidge Page 264
In October last the Rev. G. Brown, Wesleyan
missionary, brought (amongst other specimens)
from New Britain and New Ireland certain No Picture 2
grotesque figures of men and animals which
had been carved by the natives of the above
islands out of a white somewhat pulverulent
material, having much the appearance of
plaster-of-Paris or chalk.
Joseph Meier (1911) pointed out,

historically the stones were also traded among
the Tolai and consequently distributed to
different regions.
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: BEADS (CHINESE BLUE)
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District: JENNE
Village:
Excavated at Djenne-Jeno Trading centre of 12-

17th Centuru Mali Kingdom. dated to about
between 1100 AD to 1600 AD.
No Picture 2
Country: BURMA
District:
Village: SHAN PEOPLE
Description.: INGOT SYCEE SILVER SHAN
Silver ingots were made in many different

shapes and sizes. This specimen is of a type
known by the quaint name of silk-shoe money
the bars were shaped like the silk shoes on the
tiny feet of aristocratic Chinese women. From
the 6th century onwards, the feet of aristocratic
girls were bandaged from birth,
This ingot was used by the Shan people of
Burma. Possibly 19th Century.
because small feet were considered a mark of
beauty in women.
No Picture 2
Country: CONGO
District:
Village:
Description.: HOE BLADE IRON
Description: See Quiggins p 93 and 104.

A true money.
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
Village:
Description.: Armring White Metal knobbed
Description: A Manilla Style Monetary Bracelet
No Picture 2
District: California
Village:
Description.: SHELLS DENTALIUM old pieces
Description: Called Allikochik.
Ex M Peters, USA.
Quiggins on page 294 (Fig 129) mentions that

these dentalium shells had a true currency
value to the inland tribes of North America but
were generally valued as a high value trade
item and used in bride price.
No Picture 2
Country: MONGOLIA
District:
Village:
Description.: TEA BRICK
Description: From Wikipedia: Due to the high

value of tea in many parts of Asia, tea bricks
were used as a form of currency throughout
China, Tibet, Mongolia, and Central Asia. This is
quite similar to the use of salt bricks as
currency in parts of Africa. Tea bricks were in
fact the preferred form of currency over metallic
coins for the nomads of Mongolia and Siberia.
The tea could not only be used as money and
eaten as food in times of hunger but also
brewed as allegedly beneficial medicine for
treating coughs and colds. Until World War II,
tea bricks were still used as a form of edible
currency in Siberia.

province. The bricks were produced in five
different qualities and valued accordingly. The No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: FLINT EFFIGY EAGLE

CEREMONIAL
Description: Fetishes were valued as gifts -
often excavated from mounds.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE PORCELAIN BUTTONS
Description: Antique European porcelain buttons

used in the place of the standard strings of shell
money. Shell armrings, dogs teeth and similar
items have been copied bu early Europeans to
trade with the natives.
A valued item at the time.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Kukukuku
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE COWRIE KUKUKUKU

New Guinea.
No Picture 2
Country: UPPER VOLTA
District:
Village:
Description.: ARMRING STONE
Description: An ancient granite

bracelet/currency excavated in Mali, West
Africa. Bracelets like this have been found from
Ghana to Mali and were used as currency. Some
have been found buried in clay pots beneath the
ground.
No Picture 2
Country: FRANCE
District:
Village:
Description.: RING MONEY CELTIC
Description: The myth that the Celtic monetary

system consisted of wholly barter is a common
one, but is in part false. The monetary system
was complex and is still not understood (much
like the late Roman coinages), and due to the
absence of large numbers of coin items, it is
assumed that "proto-money" was used. This
included bronze items made from the early La
Tene period and onwards, which were often in
the shape of axeheads, rings, or bells. Due to
the large number of these present in some
burials, it is thought they had a relatively high
monetary value, and could be used for "day to
day" purchases.
No Picture 2
Country: CEYLON
District:
Village:
Description.: COIN BONK COPPER SMALL
Description: Coin of Ceylon.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: FISHHOOK WOODEN
Description: Takuu Mortlock or Marqueen

IslandsThese large fishing hooks originate from
Mortlock Island, 150 miles off the coast of
Bougainville Solomon Islands. Commonly known
as a shark hook, but it is actually used to catch
Ruvettus, a species that lives in the deep water
outside the reef where the villagers fish on dark
nights. The hook is composite construction
made from hardwood and fastened with superb
over woven designs of coconut fibre. The shank
made from 2 pieces of wood has a cord for main
line attachment.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: Asmat

ASMAT
Description: Ex Lawson's Tribal Auctions in
1988.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: GOURD OIL CONTAINER
Description: Non-monetary in itself but it held

the vegetable Tegasso oil which was a very
important trade item ftom the New Guinea
Highlands to the Lowlands.
A rare item.
No Picture 2
Country: MOROCCO
District:
Village:
Description.: MOULD COIN BRASS
Description: A brass mould to cast 19th Century

Falus coins of Morocco.
No Picture 2
Country: MOROCCO
District:
Village:
Description.: BEAD OLD STONE
Description: From Idar-Oberstein in Germany

where they were produced from about 1820.
No Picture 2
Country: MALI
District:
Village:
Description.: BEADS ROCK CRYSTAL (5)
Description: EXCAVATED BY THE PICARDS IN

MALI.
No Picture 2
Country: GERMANY
District: GROSS-GERAU
Village:
Description: 6000-10000 YEARS B.P., FOUND

NEAR GROSS-GERAU
No Picture 2
Country: GERMANY
District:
Village: IDAR-OBERSTEIN
Description.: BEADS NEW STONE
Description: Production of beads began in about

1820 and ended in 1980. Called Negro Money
and, more recently, sold to Mecca Pilgrims in
Saudi Arabia. These from the final production
runs with many being unfinished.
No Picture 2
Country: EUROPE
District:
Village:
Description.: RING BRONZE ANCIENT

No Picture 2
Country: TIBET
District:
Village:
Description.: STAFF CAST BRASS -DORGE-

Sydney.
A ritual Lamaistic implement which is paired

with the Bell or Deoganta item C.0648. Not
strictly a money item although would be valued
for its metal content. Used inBuddhist
ceremonies in Tibet.
No Picture 2
Country: Mortlock Islands
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE CORAL DISCS
Description: Scarce necklace popular on these

small islands.
Not sure of monetary content.
No Picture 2
Country: IVORY COAST
District:
Village:
Description.: IRON ROD SOMPE
Description: A true money - somewhat similar

to the Kissie Penny.
Among the Guro of the Ivory Coast, long iron
bars with wing like ends called Sompe were
used for trading and making payments for
goods and services.
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: BEAD CHEVRON
Description: Monetary - Refer illustation in

Frontispiece of Quiggins.
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: COWRIE ANCIENT (2)
BURIED WITH COINS IN CHOU DYNASTY

GRAVES.
No Picture 2
Country: FRANCE
District:
Village:
Description.: RING MONEY CELTIC (3-a,b,c)
Description: The myth that the Celtic monetary

system consisted of wholly barter is a common
one, but is in part false. The monetary system
was complex and is still not understood (much
like the late Roman coinages), and due to the
absence of large numbers of coin items, it is
assumed that "proto-money" was used. This
included bronze items made from the early La
Tene period and onwards, which were often in
the shape of axeheads, rings, or bells. Due to
the large number of these present in some
burials, it is thought they had a relatively high
monetary value, and could be used for "day to
day" purchases.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: COMB WITH PEARLSHELL

INSERTS
Description: Old and a highly valued item - a
wearable vlaue item
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Admiralty Islands
Village:
Description.: KNIFE OBSIDIAN HAFTED
Description: Obsidian has been traded for

thousands of years through the Admiralties and
on to Ne Britain and to many other areas.
No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
District: KIMBERLEY
Village:
Description.: SPEARPOINT GLASS

Sydney.

stone.
stone.
whites.

regarded more as ritual or status objects, as No Picture 2
District:
Village:

Auctions in 1988.
Obdidian has been traded for thousands of

years throughout the Pacific. It was traded from
New Britain to as far as New Caledonia.
This spearhead was listed as from New

Caledonia and, although different to those of
the Admiralties, it might be misattributed and
possibly is from there.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: KNIFE OBSIDIAN HAFTED
Description: Obdidian has been traded for

thousands of years throughout the Pacific. It
was traded from New Britain to as far as New
Caledonia.
This knife is listed as from New Caledonia and,
although different to those of the Admiralties, it
might be misattributed and is possibly from
there.
No Picture 2
District: SAN CRISTOBAL
Village:

Auctions, Sydney.
No Picture 2
District: SAN CRISTOBAL
Village:

Auctions, Sydney.
An unusual stone adze with a scooped out

cutting edge - possibly for shaping canoes.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: PATIPI VILLAGE, BRAZZA RIVER
Description.: NECKLACE PIG TEETH
Description: From the Asmat headhunters.

A full necklace of pigteeth showing that the
owner was an important man.
A valued trade item.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: MBINAMZIEN VILLAGE
Description.: NECKLACE COWRIE

New Guinea.
From the Asmat headhunters.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: PATIPI VILLAGE, BRAZZA RIVER.
Description.: NECKLACE RAT TEETH
Description: Collected by Todd Barlin.

The type of teeth are of a type of rat, a highly
sought after food source in many parts of New
Guinea, once he collected similar necklaces on
the Upper Brazza River and was told each
animal only has four of these incisor teeth. A
man over a lifetime may kill and collect enough
teeth to make a necklace, the necklace being a
prestige item showing a man''s hunting
prowess.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: BALIEM VALLEY
Description.: NECKLACE BIRD BONES/NASSA

SHELL
Description: A necklace of the Dani cannibals of
Irian Jaya.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: BALIEM VALLEY
Description.: NECKLACE BIRD BONES/NASSA

SHELL
Description: A necklace of the Dani cannibals of
Irian Jaya.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: YASAKOR VILLAGE
Description: One of the most valued money

items throughout New Guinea. Also used in
Bride Price.
From the Asmat headhunters.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NECKLACE JOB'S

TEARS/COWRIES/ETC
Description: From the Asmat Headhunters.
A wearable trade valuable cotaining both
decorative and monetary/trade items including
Job's Tears (coix seeds). a crocodile tooth and a
turtle finger (prbably as charms or amulets).
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: PEARLSHELL KNIFE

26.
1958.
son.
Called Kaydobu (pearlshell from Dobu) and
mentioned specifically by Armstrong as being
used in beauty magic to make the men more
attractive to their lady friends and their Kula
partners..
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: ARMRING CONUS MWALI (pair-

a,b)
26.
1958.
son.
Country: NEW GUINEA

1926.
1958.
son.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

26.
Confirmed as a Tebuda after sending to Father
English on Rosse Island.
1958.
able to purchase some of these from his widow No Picture 2
Pilgrimage (1988) by Jonathon T Dixon, his son.
Rossel. This is the rare Shell Coin of Rossel
Island called Ndap. It is a " Tebuda" and
Armsrtrong estimates about 59 to be in
existence.
This item was part of the price of a pig at a
ceremonial pig feast.

Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

26.
Confirmed as a Tebuda after sending to Father
English on Rosse Island.
1958.
able to purchase some of these from his widow No Picture 2
son.
Rossel. This is the rare Shell Coin of Rossel
Island called Ndap. It is a " Tebuda" and
Armsrtrong estimates about 59 to be in
existence.
This item was part of the price of a pig at a
ceremonial pig feast.
Country: NEW GUINEA

26.
1958.
son.
partners..
Country: NEW GUINEA

26.
Similar to photograph on page 45 of The Kula A
Bronislaw Malinowski Centennial Exhibition
Robert H Lowie Museum of Anthropology
California 1985
1958.
number of artifacts from the locals and, in No Picture 2
partners..
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: PEARLSHELL GRATER

26.
1958.
son.
Country: NEW GUINEA

26.
1958.
son.
partners.
District:
Village:
Description.: EAR PLUG JADE
Description: Ex collection of Oscar Edwards

collected 1930 and an important and highly
valued item throughout the area.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: PENDANT JADE HOLED CRUDE

he was sending to King Charles that: ''each
stone is worth two loads of gold''.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA

26.
1958.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: AXEBLADE STONE CALLED BEKU

OR BENAM LARGE
26.
1958.
son.
important.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: AXEBLADE STONE CALLED BEKU

OR BENAM SMALL
26.
1958.
son.
important.
Country: NEW GUINEA

26.
1958.
son.
Country: NEW GUINEA

26.
1958.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: COWRIE OVULA

26.
1958.
son.
A valued trade item throughout much of New
Guines. Added to enhance the appearance of
the Mwali used in the Kula Trade.
Country: NEW GUINEA

26.
1958.
able to purchase some of these from his widow,
Pilgrimage (1988) by Jonathon T Dixon. his son.
Country: NEW GUINEA

26.
1958.
able to purchase some of these from his widow,
son.
Country: NEW GUINEA

26.
1958.
'Acknowledgements' in Taim Bilong Masta No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: PATIPI VILLAGE,BRAZZA RIVER.
Description.: NECKLACE RAT TEETH

The type of teeth are a type of rat, a highly
sought after food source in many parts of New
Guinea, once he collected similar necklaces on
the Upper Brazza River he was told each animal
only has four of these incisor teeth. A man over
a lifetime may kill and collect enough teeth to
make a necklace, the necklace is a prestige
items showing a man's hunting prowess.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NECKLACE JOB'S

TEARS/CROCODILE TOOTH
Description: From the Asmat Headhunters.
A wearable trade valuable cotaining both
decorative and monetary/trade items including
Job''s Tears (coix seeds) and a crocodile tooth
(probably as a charm or amulet).
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Southern Highlands
Village:

Auctions, Sydney.
A nice quality stone bladed adze made by the

Huli people of the Southern Highlands. The
stone blade can be rotated for use as either an
adze or as an axe.
No Picture 2
Country: PACIFIC
District:
Village:
Description.: MAT WOVEN
Description: An unidentified woven mat possibly

from Fiji, Tonga or Western Samoa
No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
District:
Village:
Description.: NAILS (2) COPPER
Description: Nails similar to this were used as

an item of trade throughout the Pacific in this
era.
Camden.Wooden barquentine, 235 tons.
#43235. Built France,1853; reg. Sydney,
55/1862. Length 96.4 ft. Captain Sutton.
Ashore by adverse winds, and lost, between
Brush Island and the NSW mainland, 30
January 1870. She had left London for Sydney
on 4 September 1869. The voyage out was
uneventful until off the southern NSW coast
when forced ashore. All saved.
No Picture 2
Country: JAPAN
District:
Village:
Description.: MONEY TREE Thirteen One Mon

Coins Kan-ei Tsuho 1626-79
Description: Obtained from The Money Co
Auction in Hong Kong 19-20/5/89 as Lot #1140,
It is circa 1800S Kanei Tsuho Money Tree.
Money Tree. Thirteen One Mon Coins Kan-ei
Tsuho 1626-79
No Picture 2
Country: INDIA
District:
Village:
Description.: ANKLERING SILVER

Sydney.
Made from a white metal or, possibly. low

quality silver.
No Picture 2
Country: INDIA
District:
Village:
Description.: PENDANTS SILVER (a)
Description: The Indian culture values silver as

heirloom, decoration and valuable item.
This pendant is of silver of varying purity and

are valued money/trade items.
No Picture 2
C No: C.0964b-e Acq Date: 8906
Country: INDIA
District:
Village:
Description.: PENDANTS SILVER (4-b,c,d,e)
Description: The Indian culture values silver as

heirloom, decoration and valuable item.
These pendants are of silver of varying purity

and are valued money/trade items.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: HIGHLANDS
Village: MENDI VALLEY
Description.: PEARLSHELL CRESCENT WITH

WOVEN BAND-KINA
Description: The Kina, made of gold lip
pearlshell, was used for bride price, pig
purchases and other payments. In the 1960s it
was values as legal tender at twelve shillings
per pair.
The red ochre and gum residue deposits show
that this Kina has gone through a Moka
cremony.
No Picture 2
Country: NIGERIA
District:
Village:
Description.: MANILLA POPO


for the majority.
No Picture 2
Country: NIGERIA
District: JENNE
Village:
Description.: BEADS TERRACOTTA
From Jenne on the ancient Timbuctu Trade

Route. Verified as 500-800 years old.
No Picture 2
Country: IVORY COAST LOWER
District:
Village:
Description.: ARMRING METAL BOWED OVAL
Probably from the Djerma Tribe. Monetary

Bracelet
No Picture 2
Country: IVORY COAST LOWER
District:
Village:
Description.: ARMRING METAL BOWED OVAL
Probably from the Djerma Tribe. Monetary

Bracelet
No Picture 2
Country: NIGERIA
District:
Village:
Description.: MANILLA POPO

for the majority.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: BEADS SAMPLE OF MANY TYPES

valued in trade.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: BEADS PEKING GLASS OVAL
Description: Brought by Akha traders to the

Thai border but thought to have come originally
from Chin tribe in N.W. Burma. Of Chinese
manufacture.
Lewis page 32.
Old.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: BEADS PEKING GLASS CYLINDER

manufacture.
Old.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: BEADS PEKING GLASS BARREL

manufacture.
Old.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: BEADS GLASS Orange
Description: Probably 19th and early 20th

century. Popular among Naga and Chin tribes of
N.W. Burma and Assam. Origin may be China or
India.
Old.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE GLASS BEADS WITH

BELLS
Description: Origin may be China or India.
These are old beads similar to Dubin page 197
Plate 205
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: BEADS CARNELIAN
Description: POPULAR AMONG THE NAGA AND

CHIN TRIBES OF NW BURMA AND
ASSAM,ORIGIN MAY BE CHINA OR INDIA.RARE.
- DUBIN P192-3
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District: BURMA
Village:
Description.: BEADS WHITEHEARTS BURMA
Description: Popular among Akhar tribe. Origin

is Venice. 19th to early 20th century and earlier.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District: BURMA
Village:
Description.: BEADS WHITEHEARTS BURMA

No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District: BURMA
Village:
Description.: BEADS WHITEHEARTS LARGER

No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District: BURMA
Village:
Description.: BEADS GLASS SEED
Description: European Manufacture. Popular

among Akha, Karen and Lahu tribes. Probably
19th and early 20th century. Lewis page 226.
Dubin Plate 229.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District: KAREN AREA
Village:
Description.: BEADS SILVER 'PEPPER'
Description: Made by Karen silversmiths from

old British India silver rupee coins. Lewis page
57, 1st or 2nd from upper left.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village: KAREN AREA
Description.: BEADS SILVER 'RICE'
Description: Made by Karen silversmiths from

old British India silver rupee coins. Lewis page
57, 1st or 2nd from upper left.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: WEIGHTS -LION- (5)
Description: These weights are called opium

weights or gold weights and were used in
Burma and Siam to weigh precious items like
gold, silver, jewellery, opium and especially
medicines,.


as a money..
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: WEIGHTS -DUCK- (10)
Description: These weights are called opium

weights or gold weights and were used in
Burma and Siam to weigh precious items like
gold, silver, jewellery, opium and especially
medicines,.


as a money..
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: AXEBLADE STONE MASSIM -

MBU:OP BUTU- SMALL GREEN MASSIM.
These are the important green stone axeblades

fom Woodlark Island and an important item in
the Kula Trade Cycle. Called Beku in the
Trobriands and Mbu Op Butu on Rossel. Traded
into Rossel Island from Sudest and the Massim
area.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: LIME SPATULA WOOD JA

Clement of Rossel Island.
Armstrong states that most lime spatulas found

on Rossel are of Massim manufacture, not from
Rossel ,but Harry Beran illustrates two from
Rossel that appear to be of a standard type -
the clapper type and the canoe tip type (both of
which are the main types represented in this
collection.).
No Picture 2
Country: CANADA
District:
Village:
Description.: NAIL IRON
Description: Hand made nail from a hut in

Canada. 19th Century or before. Nails were a
popular trade item in early Canada.
Indigenous trade goods (often referred to in the
literature as Indian Trade Goods) are items of
European manufacture that were traded with
the Indigenous peoples of Canada for furs. For
the initial stages of culture contact, such goods
were stray bits of metal (eg, an old iron axe or
knife, a handful of nails) and pieces of rope and
used clothing. During this early period, most of
the trade in furs was carried out by fishermen
who had gone ashore to dry their catches.
Although the volume of trade was small, the
profits were relatively large because items of
little value to a European could be traded for
furs that commanded an excellent price in the
home market.
No Picture 2
Country: INDONESIA
District: JAVA
Village:
Description.: ANKLERINGS (PAIR) WHITE

METAL
Sydney.
Made from a white metal.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description: Todd Barlin. For 30 years Todd

Barlin has been a collector, scholar and dealer
of Oceanic Art. He first encountered Oceanic art
at the Auckland Museum in 1985 and the
beauty and magic of the artworks from the
Pacific Islands culminated in a two month trip to
the New Guinea Highlands and the Sepik River.
That first trip to Papua New Guinea ignited a
lifelong passion for the Pacific peoples; their art
and their amazingly diverse cultures. Over the
next 25 years Todd made over 40 trips to Papua
New Guinea, West Papua, Vanuatu and the
Solomon Islands. He would stay in remote
villages for days, weeks or even months at a
time. He lived as they did, ate what they had
each day and also suffered their problems such
as malaria and dengue fever. This was a magical
time before the internet, mobile phones or TV
exposed remote villages to the outside world. No Picture 2
Todd often travelled for six or eight months a
year to remote areas and spent many months
living with diverse cultural groups including the
Asmat, the Mimika, the Marind Anim and the
traditional peoples of Lake Sentani and Geelvink
Bay.
He was also fortunate to spend time in the
Sepik River, Southern Highlands and Enga
Provinces of Papua New Guinea and remote
villages in Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands.
Todd started dealing in tribal art in 1987 and

operated for the last 22 years from his Oceanic
Arts Australia Gallery in Paddington. In 1995 he
became the Tribal Art Expert for Sothebys
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: ASMAT
Description.: HEADBAND CASSOWARY SKIN
Description: Todd Barlin. For 30 years Todd

Barlin has been a collector, scholar and dealer
of Oceanic Art. He first encountered Oceanic art
at the Auckland Museum in 1985 and the
beauty and magic of the artworks from the
Pacific Islands culminated in a two month trip to
the New Guinea Highlands and the Sepik River.
That first trip to Papua New Guinea ignited a
lifelong passion for the Pacific peoples; their art
and their amazingly diverse cultures. Over the
next 25 years Todd made over 40 trips to Papua
New Guinea, West Papua, Vanuatu and the
Solomon Islands. He would stay in remote
villages for days, weeks or even months at a
time. He lived as they did, ate what they had
each day and also suffered their problems such
as malaria and dengue fever. This was a magical
time before the internet, mobile phones or TV
exposed remote villages to the outside world. No Picture 2
Todd often travelled for six or eight months a
year to remote areas and spent many months
living with diverse cultural groups including the
Asmat, the Mimika, the Marind Anim and the
traditional peoples of Lake Sentani and Geelvink
Bay. He was also fortunate to spend time in the
Sepik River, Southern Highlands and Enga
Provinces of Papua New Guinea and remote
villages in Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands.
Todd started dealing in tribal art in 1987 and
operated for the last 22 years from his Oceanic
Arts Australia Gallery in Paddington. In 1995 he
Australia and stayed in this position until 1999.
His items are in many of the Great Museums
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Mt HAGEN AREA
Village: KELAM VILLAGE
Description.: AXEBLADE STONE BLANK
Description: Collected by Todd Barlin. Similar

items have been used as Bride Price. For 30
years has been a collector, scholar and dealer of
Oceanic Art. His appreciation of Oceanic art
began at Auckland Museum in 1985 and in a
two month trip to New Guinea which ignited a
passion for the Pacific peoples, their art and
their cultures. In the next 25 years Todd made
over 40 trips to Papua New Guinea, West Papua,
Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands. He stayed in
remote villages and lived as they did, ate what
they ate and suffered their problems such as
malaria and dengue fever. This was before the
internet, etc which exposed remote villages to
the outside world. He often travelled for six or
eight months a year to out of the way areas and
spent months living with cultural groups
including the Asmat, the Mimika, the Marind
Anim , the people of Lake Sentani and Geelvink No Picture 2
Bay and spent time in the Sepik River area, the
Southern Highlands and Enga Provinces of
Papua New Guinea and remote villages in
Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands. Todd started
dealing in tribal art in 1987 and, in 1995,
Australia staying in this position until 1999.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: PAPUAN GULF
Village:

Auctions, Sydney
A highly valued trade item and similar stone

adzes have been found from near Port Moresby
to well into Indonesian Papua.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: BALIEM
Description.: NECKLACE MELO PENDANT &

NASSA SHELL- DANI
Description: Called Mikah.
One of the main valuables of the Dani warrior

and Big Man.
Ex Lawsons Tribal Art Auctions.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SEPIK
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE NASSA & SHELLRING

CLAMSHELL
Description: A high value wearable item of
money - both in the nassa shells and the
clamshell ring.
Called Yua.

marriage, the groom presents yua to the
brides parents, the number he is able
to give becoming a lifelong source of pride. At
death, gifts of yua to maternal relatives help No Picture 2
ease the passage of the spirit to the afterlife.
Shell rings also play an integral role in
ceremonial life. They are displayed during male
initiation, the dedication of mens ceremonial
houses, and other occasions, as symbols of the
strength and wealth of the community.

emphasize another mans status or his affection
for him, will address him as wuna yua (my
ring).
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: SALKAGU VILLAGE
Description.: STONE MONEY -JE-

For 30 years has been a collector, scholar and
dealer of Oceanic Art. His appreciation of
Oceanic art began at Auckland Museum in 1985
culminating in a two month trip to New Guinea
which ignited a lifelong passion for the Pacific
peoples; their art and their cultures. In the next
25 years Todd made over 40 trips to Papua New
Guinea, West Papua, Vanuatu and the Solomon
Islands. He stayed in remote villages and lived
as they did, ate what they ate and suffered
their problems such as malaria and dengue
fever. This was before the internet, etc which
exposed remote villages to the outside world.
He often travelled for six or eight months a year
to out of the way areas and spent months living
with cultural groups including the Asmat, the
Mimika, the Marind Anim , the people of Lake
Sentani and Geelvink Bay and spent time in the
Sepik River area, the Southern Highlands and
Enga Provinces of Papua New Guinea and
remote villages in Vanuatu and the Solomon
Islands. Todd started dealing in tribal art in
1987 and, in 1995, became the Tribal Art Expert
for Sothebys Australia staying in this position
until 1999. His items are in many of the Great
Museums.
This is a Je stone moey of the Dani - possibly
the most important cultural item of this people.
Country: NEW GUINEA

ASMAT. Refer page 75 of -The Skull Art of the
Bismam of West Papua- Flanagan 2005. These
daggers were used in payments.
Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: YASAKOR VILLAGE - Asmat
Description.: HEADBAND CASSOWARY PLUMES

Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: YO VILLAGE
Description.: NOSE ORNAMENT SHELL ASMAT

Museums.

Col Davidson Collection Part 1

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Col Davidson Collection Part 1

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

The Primitive Money Collection of Col Davidson

Primitive and Money Substitutes.

All the best to you and yours,

Description.: INGOT BOAT MONEY BRONZE

Description: This is a bronze ingot called Lat Hoi

Description.: FEATHER PLATELET

Description: Platelets from the famous feather

Description.: Coin Rectangular Silver Ichibu Gin

Description.: Cowrie Imitation - Ant Coin

Description: Cowrie Imitation - Ant Coin

Description.: Cowrie Imitation - Ghost Head

Description: Cowrie Imitation - Ghost Head.

Description.: LARIN SILVER FISHHOOK MONEY

Description: Used as a true money or coin in

Description.: IRON ROD KISSI PENNY (2)

Description: 18-19th c., iron "kissie penny," an

Description.: RING SMALL BRASS

Description: Ex Paul Dillingham, USA

The price of a donkey ride at the time Paul

Description.: BEADS BRASS (4)

Description: Ex Paul Dillingham, USA

Description.: RING IVORY (ELEPHANT TUSK)

Description: Ex Paul Dillingham, USA

Ivory is an extremely high value monetary item

This is a very old crudely made item of ivory

Description: Ex Paul Dillingham, USA

Refer Quiggins p99 Fig 35

Description: Ex Paul Dillingham, USA

Refer illustration p89 Fig 26 Quiggin.

The earliest manillas made by Europeans for the

Description.: BELL PENDANT SMALL

Description: Ex Paul Dillingham, USA

Had a monetary value - maily due to the metal

Description: Ex Paul Dillingham, USA

AS QUIGGINS PAGE 86. HAND LOOMED.

Description.: ARMRING (3 BELLS)

Description: Ex Paul Dillingham, USA

Confirmed by Gibbs in 1967 as monetary

Description.: ARROWHEAD OBSIDIAN

Description: Ex Paul Dillingham, USA

Obsidian tools, mainly arrowheads and

Description.: BELL COPPER YUCATAN

Description: Ex Paul Dillingham, USA

Well described in Taxay. Cogolludo, a Franciscan

Description.: TEABRICK (PART)

Description: Ex Paul Dillingham, USA

From Wikipedia: Due to the high value of tea in

Tea bricks for Tibet were mainly produced in the

Description.: INGOT TOK CHIENG SILVER

Description: Ex Paul Dillingham, USA

South of the Flower region and when Lannatai

Description.: INGOT BOAT MONEY BRONZE

Description: Ex Paul Dillingham, USA

This is a bronze ingot called Lat Hoi - often

Description.: HAIRPIN MONEY (TOWEELAH)

Description: Ex Paul Dillingham, USA

800 yrs OLD. FOLLOWING IS A COPY OF A

Description.: ADZE HAFTED STONE BLADE

Description: Obtained from New Guinea

A simple stone blade adze from the Tambanum

Description: Obtained from Paul Dillingham,

Well into the 20th century tekties were highly

Tektites, especially those of fish shape were

Description.: INGOT TOK NAN SILVER