Col Davidson Collection Part 2

The Primitive Money Collection of Col Davidson
Part 2
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.1000 Acq Date: 8909
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: IRIAN JAYA
Village: YO VILLAGE
Description.: NOSE ORNAMENT BONE ASMAT

(LARGEST)
Description: Collected by Todd Barlin.
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.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: YO VILLAGE

Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: YO VILLAGE

(SMALLEST)
Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: YAPEN ISLAND WEST
Description.: ARMRING CONUS CALLED

SAPARO
Professor Held, in his book, values one which
can pass over the elbow, at 4 to 6 tumangs of
sago.
For 30 years Todd has been a collector, scholar
and dealer of Oceanic Art. His appreciation of
Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA

SAPARO
sago.
Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA

SAPARO
sago.
Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA

SAPARO
sago.
Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA

SAPARO
sago.
Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: BARAPASI VILLAGE UPPER WAROPEN
Description.: ARMBAND OF BEADS

Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: SALKAGU VILLAGE
Description.: STONE MONEY -JE-

Museums.
This is a Je stone moey of the Dani - possibly
the most important cultural item of this people.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: URFUSEI VILLAGE
Description.: EARRING GLASS

Ancient Glass Earrings, Geelvink Bay Area, West
Papua; these glass earrings were collected on
the Waropen Coast along the North Coast of
West New Guinea, traditionally called "dimbo" in
the local Warpoen language, they were an
important type of traditional wealth used for
bride price payments, other types of
compensation payments and for goods,
especially bird of paradise skins that Malay
traders came to obtain by trading glass and
metal objects.
Old men say that their fathers told them that
these Dimbo came from special trees in the
jungle. Ornament Magazine dates them as 13th
Century Javanese glass with Islamic influence.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: NORTH COAST
Description.: BEADS (MANY)
Description: Collected by Todd Barlin.Money

Beads of the Waropen Coast. In mid-1989 a
small batch of beads came into Australia from
the North West Coast of Irian Jaya. They played
an important role in the culture of the
Melanesians of the area and had done so for
hundreds of years. They were an important
cultural object, used in a true monetary sense
as a store of value, in presentations and for
purchases. They were used in Bride Price but
not actually worn by the people of the area.
When traded further east, they were worn as
well as being used in brideprice. Many beads
were buried to safeguard them from the raids of
enemies. Received from Malay and other traders
in payment for Bird of Paradise skins they were
re-traded into the interior by the coastal natives
to obtain skins and other items. However, the
old men of the villages were told by their
grandfathers that the beads grew on magical
trees in the jungle. In the early 1980s many
were purchased by Indonesians and others so,
to all intents and purposes, there are no more
beads available from the area. The main bead
used was the yellow Chinese melon bead
(#826a Dubins bead chart) dated to the Ching
Dynasty (16th-18th C).
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SIDEIA ISLAND - Massim
Village:
Description.: PEARLSHELL KNIFE - MASSIM -

Blacklip
Description: Voyagers in the Kula, when arriving
at their destination, gave their trading partner
presents called pari (landing gift). It would be
some small object such as a pearlshell knife, a
lime pot or a lime spatula but might even
include high value items such as a beku stone
blade or a good lime spatula. General trade
associated with the Kula included the popular
lime spatulas and pearlshell knives and,
included as solicitory gifts in bidding for an
important Bagi or Mwali, was the highly valued
Beku stone blades.
The Kayeki or pearlshell knife was used in
beauty magic to make men more attractive to
their lady friends or Kula partner. Kaydobu, or
Kayeki from Dobu, are singled out by
Malinowski as important trade items and the
pearlshell knives are, in some localities, the
most important subsidiary trade items of the No Picture 2
Kula.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: LIME CONTAINER GOURD -

MASSIM
Description: A minor gift in the Kula Trade Cycle
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: SHELL RED GROUND - MASSIM
Description: This is the spondylus shell used to

make the famous Bagi necklaces of the Kula
trade.
I obtained this from a Rossel Island native

named Sam Mananamu who was working on
Sideia Island, in the Massim area.
The shell has been ground down ready to be

made into shell discs. He would probably hve
taken it back to Rossel if I hadn't obtained it.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: ROSSEL ISLAND
Village: ABELETI VILLAGE
Description.: AXEBLADE STONE MASSIM -

MBU:OP BUTU- GREEN STONE.
Description: PREVIOUSLY OWNED BY STEVEN
PIN. IS ANCIENT AND CEREMONIALLY USED
FOR FUNERALS AND CUSTOM BUYING.
Called Mbu:Op Butu.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
in Rossel.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: PEARLSHELL GRATER
Description: The shell comes from a reef around

the island and it is used as a hand scraper for
coconut, for use as a spoon and as a minor
valuable.
Called Ngwe.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: SHELL SCRAPER COWRIE
Description: Called Ngebi.
Previously owned by Thomas Pindi of Abeleti

Village.
A useful tool valued in minor exchanges and gift

giving.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NKO (KE-KAO) -GEMIDA-
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
Gemida". 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 #20
Previous owner was Jerom Pidua of Abeleti
Village. We use them for custom buyings.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: PEARLSHELL KNIFE
Description: On Sudest Island there is a custom

called Buwa where, the first time a man or boy
is discovered to have spent the night with a girl,
the girl's family presents him with a basket of
gifts (which often includes a pearlshell knife).
He does not keep this gift but must add the
equivalent to the basket and return it to the
girl's family. A somewhat similar custom is seen
on Rossel Island.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: EASTERN HIGHLANDS
Village:
Description.: SHELLROPE COWRIE
Description: Collected by Colin Barron, Lae.
A true money throughout most of New Guinea.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: WEST NEW BRITAIN
Village: Kove
Description.: SHELLSTRING -VULA-
Description: Obtained by Colin Barron, Lae, New

Guinea.
The Kaliai women make the shellstring called

Vula for the men to use.
This example is probably what is called 'black'

Vula (vula arsona) and was used to purchase
masks, in the building of men's houses, bride
wealth and in mortuary presentations.
See Opitz pages 362-363.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS
Village:
Description.: SHELL MELO BAILER FOREHEAD

DECORATION
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
Village:
Description.: HEADBAND OLIVE SHELLS
Description: Collected by Colin Barron.

Olive shells were scarce in the area and a
valued trade item.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: BELT COWRIE
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLROPE COWRIE
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: CHIMBU
Village:
Description.: PIG TUSK PENDANT

Museums.
A wearable, decorative valuable.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: SAWA VILLAGE
Description.: ARMBAND STRING CASSOWARY

FEATHERS
Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: YASAKOR VILLAGE
Description.: DAGGER CASSOWARY BONE

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

Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: BALIEM
Description.: BAG STRING FEATHERS

Worn on the back by men.
Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Mt HAGEN AREA
Village: KELAM VILLAGE
Description.: SHELL GREEN SNAIL

Museums.
A high value money/trade item.

Country: NEW GUINEA

Country: NEW GUINEA

Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA

Museums.
Country: SOLOMON ISLANDS
District: SANTA CRUZ
Village:
Description.: PENDANT -KAP KAP-

TORTOISESHELL CLAM
Description: Obtained from Sir Mariano Kelesi,
Honiara, Solomons.
In the Santa Cruz Islands are created the

distinctive breastplates, known as tema, tambe,
or tepatu which were worn by high status
individuals. These important men would wear it
during ceremonies and when fighting.
They consist of disks of Tridacna shell with
openwork turtle shell overlays. Tema were
integral elements of the elaborate ceremonial
attire worn by men at major dance festivals.
The white shell disk represents the moon, and
the overlay incorporates stylized images of a
frigate bird.
Of high trade value.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING CONUS

Honiara, Solomons
Called Balau.
Bulau rings (Balau is the generic name of Conus

shells) which were used as an exchange
valuable are made from the base of the shell,
including part of the sidewall and making an
L- or I-shape in cross section. Roughly made
bulau were also used for religious offerings to
spirits in a similar manner to hinuili which were
a small ring of conus shell. Many have been
found on graves 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..
No Picture 2
District: NEW GEORGIA
Village:
Description.: FISHHOOK SHELL

TORTOISESHELL
Honiara, Solomons.
Fishhooks have been one of the most popular

trade items throughout the Pacific. This use
item had good trade value.
No Picture 2
Village:
Description.: WHALE TOOTH

Honiara, Solomons.
Whale teeth were extremely valuable money
items in New Georgia and the Solomons - see
item C.0614.
This is a special and much rarer tooth than
normal. Instead of being unmodified, or having
a suspension hole to enable it to be worn like a
Tambua, this tooth has four tiny holes (each
meeting to make two through holes) that are
too small to have it suspended as a pendant.
A similar one (see photo) is in the British
Museum in which the holes are used for
decoration or possibly static suspension.
It seems that this very rare form of
whaletooth valuable dates to before the
European whalers of the 19th Century and the
tiny holes probably held a very thin cord to hold
small shell discs and possibly suspend the tooth No Picture 2
over a grave or important area to protect the
people of the area or to appease the spirits.
It is recorded that formerly such kalo were a
very high ranking traditional currency used for
barter and ceremonial
exchange. They were also used in marriage
payments, for the purchase of land, for magical
formulae, and in the ritual appeasement of
localised malevolent spirits (Hviding 1996,
Kupiainen 2000).
From a grave on the island.
District: KOLOMBANGARA
Village:
Description.: SHELL MITRE GROUND - LIGOMO

Honiara, Solomons.
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..
No Picture 2
District: Kolombangara
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING CLAMSHELL (called

Mbakia)
Honiara, Solomons.
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. Only a few shellrings can be made
showing the stain.
As with the Poata these rings are almost

perfectly uniform in the circle shape with very
regular, unvarying, thickness and width from
hole to edge.
Bakiha were graded by size, texture and the

concentration and extent of the yellow to red
stain on their surface No Picture 2
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
archaeologically.
District: New Georgia
Village:

Mbakia)
Honiara, Solomons.

showing the stain.

hole to edge.


archaeologically.
Country: Sudan and Congo
District:
Village:
Description.: SPEARHEAD IRON (LIGANDA or

TARUMBA) CEREMONIAL
Description: Obtained from Scott Semans, USA.
Called Liganda or Ngbele.
These were made by the Turumba below

Stanley Falls. These were the main currency
between the Congo and the Lomani. Used
mainly for Brideprice and the purchase of
canoes and slaves - thirty would buy a male
slave. Quiggin p64 and plates 1 and 3.
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: SPEARHEAD IRON (LIGANDA OR

TARUMBA) CEREMONIAL
Description: Obtained from Scott Semans, USA.
Called Liganda or Ngbele.
These were made by the Turumba below

Stanley Falls. These were the main currency
between the Congo and the Lomani. Used
mainly for Brideprice and the purchase of
canoes and slaves - thirty would buy a male
slave. Quiggin p64 and plates 1 and 3.
No Picture 2
Country: INDONESIA
District: JAVA
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: INDONESIA
District: JAVA
Village:
Description.: KNIFE KRIS

illustration
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SEPIK
Village: WOSERA
Description.: DAGGER CASSOWARY BONE &

FEATHERS
Description: 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."
Also used to decorate bone daggers.
Homicidal pendants are shown in Plate 33
Mountain Arapesh II by Margaret Mead. No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: SENTANI
Description.: AXEBLADE STONE HIGHLY

POLISHED
Description: Hefa
In the village of Tablanusu in the Humboldt bay

an average Brideprice was 2 axeblades, 2 large
blue beads, 4 small blue beads and 4 yellow.
The blades come from the Humboldt Bay area -
they are mined in a quarry near Mt Cyclops
which is close to Sentani.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: DANI
Description.: FETISH STONE & STRING

DANI - Fetish which possesses a gender and
spirituality
Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: DANI
Description.: FETISH STONE & STRING

DANI - Fetish which possesses a gender and
spirituality
Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: ASMAT
Description.: TRUMPET BAMBOO

Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: BRASSA RIVER AREA
Description.: AXEBLADE STONE ASMAT

TEARDROP SHAPE
Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: SENTANI
Description.: SAGO BLADE STONE

Museums.
A chipped but unusually shaped stone tool.
Worked stone items, such as this, were highly
valued and readily accepted in trade.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: CASSOWARY FEATHER ORNAMENT

Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MOUNT HAGEN AREA
Village:
Description.: AXEBLADE STONE GREEN
Description: One of their superb green stone

axe blades used in their Bride Price Axes.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Collingwood Bay or New Caledonia
Village:
Description.: AXEBLADE STONE - Green Epidote

Stone
Description: Ex Lawsons Tribal Art Auctions,
Sydney.
Appears to be a fine grained volcanic rock

subsequently chloritised and silicified. Seems to
show traces of rhyolite, chalcedony, quartz,
chlorite and/or rhyolite.
The stone material is similar to one displayed at
the Adelaide Museum.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: ADZEBLADE STONE

QUADRILATERAL
Sydney.
Large adze blade for work use.

As such was a popular trade item.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SEPIK
Village:
Description: Ex Lawsons Tribal Art Auctions.
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 No Picture 2

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
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: SWEDEN
District:
Village:
Description.: PLATE MONEY 1/2 DALER
Description: Ex S.Semans, USA.
Swedish Coin (Plate Money)
Coin of 1/2 Daler dated 1727
This coin was recovered from the wreck of the

trading ship Nicobar, which was discovered and
salvaged in the 1980's off the coast of southern
Africa. On July 23, 1782 the Nicobar left
Sweden with a load of recently undenominated
plates to be traded at Danish posts on the
Indian coast and the Nicobar Islnds, east of
India. On the way to the Cape of Good Hope it
was forced to replenish on the west coast of
Africa at False Bay, on May 20, 1783. On July
10, shortly after leaving False Bay, it was
wrecked in a storm. Two hundred years later,
local fishermen found the wreck. No Picture 2
Country: SWEDEN
District:
Village:
Description.: PLATE MONEY 2 DALER
Swedish Coin (Plate Money)
Coin of 2 Daler dated 1742
This coin was recovered from the wreck of the

trading ship Nicobar, which was discovered and
salvaged in the 1980's off the coast of southern
Africa. On July 23, 1782 the Nicobar left
Sweden with a load of recently undenominated
plates to be traded at Danish posts on the
Indian coast and the Nicobar Islnds, east of
India. On the way to the Cape of Good Hope it
was forced to replenish on the west coast of
Africa at False Bay, on May 20, 1783. On July
10, shortly after leaving False Bay, it was
wrecked in a storm. Two hundred years later,
local fishermen found the wreck. No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: PAPUAN GULF
Village: Mai Village near Kerema some 100 miles

East of Pt Moresby.
Description.: BIRD OF PARADISE SKIN
FEATHERS
Description: 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 dance, they repeatedly
raise aloft, while quivering intensely, a spectacle
reminiscent of the phoenix dancing in its No Picture 2
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.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: Mai Village near Kerema some 100 miles

East of Pt Moresby.
Description.: BIRD OF PARADISE SKIN
FEATHERS
Description: 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 dance, they repeatedly
raise aloft, while quivering intensely, a spectacle
reminiscent of the phoenix dancing in its No Picture 2
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.
Country: SIAM
District: MEKONG DELTA
Village:
Description.: INGOT BOAT MONEY BRONZE
Description: Ex Paul Dillingham, USA
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: NEW GUINEA

metal objects.
Country: NEW GUINEA

Country: PHILLIPINES
District:
Village:
Description.: JARLET SUNG DYNASTY
Description: The ancient Chinese travelled to

the Philippines as early as the 10th century.
This jar has a Museum certificate dating it to
the Sung Dynasry of China.
Such jarlets as this one, and much larger ones,
were passed down as heirlooms and as minor
valuables.
No Picture 2
Country: BORNEO
District:
Village: KUTAI DYAK PEOPLE
Description.: BLOWPIPE
Description: From the Kutai Dyaks.

By Alex Spillius, S E Asia Correspondent.24 Feb
2001 Dayaks armed with spears, machetes and
blowpipes killed 200 people in a town in Borneo
during six days of violence in order to drive out
thousands of migrants resented for taking jobs
and land. The heads of many of the dead were
taken as trophies. A local doctor, Dr Sukhami,
said the victims had been hacked with
traditional Borneo swords called mandau or shot
with poisoned darts from blowguns.
The method to make a blowgun was to cut a
long piece of wood, lashing it vertically to a tree
and drilling into the end with a long iron rod
having a triangular steel point. This was done
by lifting, dropping and turning the rod, which
was kept in proper alignment by forked guides.
An assistant ladled water into the hole to float
out the chips. It was then planed to the proper
diameter and the bore smoothed. It required
specialized tools and a great deal of skill on the
part of the maker. The resulting tube was also
strong enough to serve as a spear shaft and
many examples have an iron spear head. Bored
blowguns became an item of export and were
found far from their point of manufacture.
Country: S.E.ASIA
District:
Village:
Description.: OPIUM PIPE
Description: Not a monetary item, but was used

to smoke the opium which was a dangerous but
highly valued and traded item.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SEPIK
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE DOGSTEETH
Description: One of the most valued money

items throughout New Guinea. Also used in
Bride Price.
No Picture 2
Country: PACIFIC
District: Possibly Massim
Village:
Description.: ADZEBLADE STONE FLAT

TRIANGULAR - Possibly Massim
Description: From Lawson's Tribal Art Auctions.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: STONE PESTLE

Sydney.
A simple but rare stone pestle 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 simple but rare.

No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: TROBRIANDS
Village:
Description.: ARMBAND RED SAPI/WOVEN

FIBRE
Description: Ex the Sid V Hagley Collection.
Hagley was one of the most imortant collectors
in Australian Numismatics. He once owned the
proof 1930 penny valued at over $2,000,000.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MENDI
Village:
Description.: WALLET FOR KINA
A bark wallet used to hold and protect the kina

valuables.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS
Village:
Description.: HEADBAND COWRIE SHELLS
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NKO (KE-KAO) -JOMONDO-

Jomondo". These were used in Brideprice, the
Class #17
The previous owner was Jerome Kaiyobu of
Abeleti Village.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: JINJO VILLAGE
Description.: NDAP KOMOKA Class #4
Description: Previous owner was James Mepe of

Jinjo Village and the coin is class Komondap.
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 "Komoka". 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 200 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
Description.: NDAP PIMBA Class #14
Description: Previous owner was Bernard Mepe

of Jinjo Village and this was used in 1982 by
Mola Gwawo of Jinjo Village as Bride Price. The
wife''''''''s family also from Jinjo Village and
were named Mepe.
Rossel
the denomination "Pimba". These were made by
a god and were used in Brideprice, the price for
killing a man, warfare payments, funerary
existence. This item was part of the price of a No Picture 2
full page to Ndap and in-depth articles have
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.: NECKLACE SAPI SHELL DISCS

CALLED -CHAPA-
Description: Previously owned by Damien
Kayobu. It was used for funerary ceremonies.
When a person died that person's wife's people
will pay to his parents and relations. Also worn
by women at Sing-sings or when dressing up.
A rare and valuable money item.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: Trumpet triton shell called -Dwor.
Description: It is a trumpet made from a Triton

Shell and comes from Rossel Island in New
Guinea.
Previously owned by Thomas Koor of Abeleti

Village. It was blown for big gathering of people
- like fightings against two people for a wrong
doing or quarrels against two villages foe a
wrong doing or a Patrol Officer visit to a Ward
Village to collect Local Government taxes.
These items were favourite trade items

throughout the Pacific.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: Pestle Dugong Tooth called piorbo-

dynena-ngeye-gwaye.
Description: Dugong Tooth Betel Pestle called
piorbo-dynena-ngeye-gwaye.
Previous owmer was Steven Kayobu of Abeleti
Village. This was a family valuable passed down
from a man named Pichda to his som Kayobu
and then to his son Steven Kayobu.
A highly valued heirloom passed down through
the generations.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NDAP KOMO KOMONDAP Class #4
Description: Previously owned by Anna Pindi of

Abeleti Village and is called Komondap.
Rossel
the denomination "Komo Komondap". 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)
Opitz, in his book on Primitive Money allocates a No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NDAP TEBUDA Class #7
Description: Previously owned by Cathrine Tom

of Abeleti Village.
Rossel
the denomination " Tebuda". These were made
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NDAP DIAMA Class #9

of Abeleti Village.
Rossel
the denomination "Diama". These were made
Country: NEW GUINEA

of Abeleti Village.
Rossel
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: MORTAR WOODEN CALLED NYEKE
Description: Called Nyeke.

Previously owned by Steven Kayobu of Abeleti
Village.
A very scarce item from the island.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: SCALES
Description: Not a monetary item but used with

the 'Opium Weights' to weigh gold, silver,
jewels, etc
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SEPIK
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE OF SHELL DISCS WITH

NASSA
A wearable moey item of sapi-sapi shell discs

interspersed with nassa shells.
No Picture 2
Country: SOLOMONS
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE OF SHELL DISCS WITH

SMALL BLACK GLASS BEADS
A standard string of shell money.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: Taronta Village (N Coast between

Jaipura and Sarmi)
Description.: NOSESTICK CLAMSHELL
BROWNISH 128x10mm
Not worn now and people cannot remember
anyone ever making them.
Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA

Jaipura and Sarmi)
Description.: NOSESTICK CLAMSHELL WHITE
124x11mm
Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA

Jaipura and Sarmi)
Description.: NOSESTICK CLAMSHELL SMALLER
84x11mm
Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA

Jaipura and Sarmi)
Description.: NOSESTICK CLAMSHELL SMALL
35x9mm
Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: Kaptiau Village (N Coast between

Jaipura and Sarmi)
Description.: Earring Star Clam/Tortoiseshell
44mm dia
Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA

Jaipura and Sarmi)
Description.: Earring Star Clam/Tortoiseshell
50mm dia Broken Arm
Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA

Jaipura and Sarmi)
Description.: EARRING STAR SHAPED
SHELL/TORTOISESHELL 29mm dia
Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA

Jaipura and Sarmi)
Description.: EARRING RING
SHELL/TORTOISESHELL 23mm dia
Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA

Jaipura and Sarmi)
Description.: NECKLACE CONUS DISC/BLUE
BEAD PENDANT 50mm dia
Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: Kaimana Village (SW Fak-Fak District)
Description.: SHELL DISC CONUS PENDANT

CARVED
Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA

CARVED
Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: SHELL DISC -RING- SHAPED

SMALL NOTCHES
Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: BONGGO VILLAGE
Description.: ARMLET WITH TWO CLAMSHELL

DISCS
Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: Baigisewer Village (North Coast Sarmi

Area)
Description.: Shellring Pendant
Clam/Beads/Nassa 102mm dia
Description: Called Sembasi
Collected by Todd Barlin.
until 1999.
His items are in many of the Great Museums.
A true money item.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: FAK-FAK AREA
Description.: BEADS TRANSLUCENT BLUE (2)

BLUE, WHITE OPAQUE
Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA

Jaipura and Sarmi)
Description.: ARMLET CLAMSHELL
DISC/BEADS/NASSA SHELLS
Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: JAIPURA AREA

(BROKEN) 91mm
Ancient excavated when digging house
foundations.
Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA

Area)
Description.: Shellring Pendant
Clam/Teeth/Nassa/Beads 130mm dia
Description: Called by Sembasi
until 1999.
A true money item.
Country: NEW GUINEA

Area)
Description.: Shellring Pendant Beads/Dog
Teeth 90mm dia
Museums.
A true money item.
Country: NEW GUINEA

Jaipura and Sarmi)
Description.: ARMLET WITH TWO CONE SHELL
DISCS
Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: MONAKAWARI VILLAGE
Description.: NECKLACE BEADS

BLUE,WHITE,RED,YELLOW
Museums.
A money necklace of trade beads.
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: GONG IRON WITH CLAPPER
Description: Double gong illustrated p75 Fig 18

Quiggin's
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: ARMBAND SMALL GLASS BEADS

Sydney.
A wearable valuable of old beads.
No Picture 2
Country: SARAWAK
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE OLD TRADE GLASS

BEADS
Description: Valued items for wearing but
valued in trade.
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
C No: C.1113a Acq Date: 9006
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: COLLINGWOOD BAY
Village:
Description.: BARK CLOTH TAPA
Description: Bark cloth with custom designs

from the Oro province of Papua New Guinea.
No Picture 2
C No: C.1113b Acq Date: 9006
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description: Bark cloth with custom designs

from the Oro province of Papua New Guinea.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Milne Bay Province - Massim
Village: Dogura Village
Description.: Axe Hafted Green Stone Blade

Collected by Robert Jones.
Sydney.
Robert Jones of Glasgow intended to work for

the Anglican Church in New Guinea for 18
months he stayed for 18 years- arriving in
1926 and leaving in 1943. Being a builder he
undertook the building of a cathedral at Dogura.
It took five years to build and he and 170 men
from the diocese, speaking 35 different
languages between them, each gave three
months of free labour to erect the largest
permanent building in New Guinea at the time.
The opening ceremony of the cathedral, on
October 29 1939, was attended by the
Lieutenant Governor of Papua and the Kings
representative Sir Hubert Murray, Jones
returned to Brisbane to prepare for his
ordination and, an ordained deacon, he No Picture 2
returned to Dogura where, in 1941, the Golden
Jubilee of the Anglican Church in New Guinea
and the 7th anniversary of the laying of the
Foundation Stone, he was ordained as a priest
in the cathedral he had built. With the Japanese
invasion Jones remained in Sefoa and clung to
his work, not leaving his people although, after
the fall of Gona, he must have been the nearest
European to the Japanese. In May 1943 he left
New Guinea because of his wifes health in
Australia and never returned permanently.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Milne Bay Province
Description.: BOWL WOODEN Collected by

Robert Jones
Description: Robert Jones of Glasgow intended
to work for the Anglican Church in New Guinea
for 18 months he stayed for 18 years-
arriving in 1926 and leaving in 1943. Being a
builder he undertook the building of a cathedral
at Dogura. It took five years to build and he and
170 men from the diocese, speaking 35
different languages between them, each gave
three months of free labour to erect the largest
ordination and, an ordained deacon, he
and the 7th anniversary of the laying of the No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: Bowl Wood Double with Two

Heads Collected by Robert Jones
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: COWRIE BAND Of The DANI

Called Yerak
Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA

Called Yerak
Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA

Called Yerak
Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NDAP TEBUDONGWO Class #8
Description: Previous owner was Gerald John

Clement of Jinjo Village.

Rossel

the denomination "Tebudongwo" called in pure
Rossel "Tebudonduwo".. These were made by a
god and were used in Brideprice, the price for
important of Pacific Primitive Moneys.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: AXEBLADE STONE MASSIM -

MBU:OP BUTU - GREEN STONE.
Description: Previous owner was Gerald John
Clement of Jinjo Village.
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
District: MALAITA
Village:
Description.: ARMBAND SHELL DISCS/WOVEN

FIBRE
Honiara, Solomons.
An important wearable monetary valuable.
No Picture 2
District: CHOISEUL
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING CLAMSHELL-ZAKU

Honiara, Solomons.
This item is called Zaku.
A large and highly valued unit of money from

Choiseul Island. It is a shell ring made of
clamshell.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: PEARLSHELL KNIFE - MASSIM -

Goldlip
Description: Voyagers in the Kula, when arriving
at their destination, gave their trading partner
presents called pari (landing gift). It would be
some small object such as a lime pot or a lime
spatula but might even include high value items
such as a beku stone blade or a good lime
spatula. General trade associated with the Kula
included the popular lime spatulas and
pearlshell knives. Included as solicitory gifts in
bidding for an important Bagi or Mwali was the
highly valued Beku stone blades.
The Kayeki or pearlshell knife was used in
beauty magic to make men more attractive to
their lady friends or Kula partner. Kaydobu, or
Kayeki from Dobu, are singled out by
Malinowski as important trade items and the
pearlshell knives are, in some localities, the
most important subsidiary trade items of the
Kula. No Picture 2
Country: LIBERIA
District:
Village:
Description.: IRON ROD KISSI PENNY (3)
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: MALI
District:
Village:
Description.: BEADS GLASS (3 SHORT STRINGS

-a,b,c)
"Janie" (corruption of Djenne?) and

"Baya"beads. probably Bohemia . janie are the
blue ones.
No Picture 2
Country: CONGO
District:
Village:
Description.: BEADS GLASS (2) AGGRY
Similar to the Venician 1750-1850.High value

bead used in Gold Coast gold trade and called
"King Bead". Best claimant as true Aggry.
Quiggin p39-40.
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: COWRIE ANCIENT (3)
BURIED WITH COINS IN CHOU DYNASTY

GRAVES.
No Picture 2
Country: INDIA
District:
Village:
Description.: COINS SILVER TINY RATI (3)
Maurian Empire 400-300 BC weight of one

Arbrus Precatorus seed
No Picture 2
Country: BURMA
District:
Village:
Description.: KNIFE STEEL BLADE IN

SCABBARD
Description: Called Dao. In previous times the
Dao was a valued item of the area.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: BAG STRING Collected by Robert

Jones
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: BAG STRING Collected by Robert

Jones
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Strickland River Nomad Area
Village:
Description.: ARROW BONE CARVED POINT
Description: Fly River Nomad area. Bone

utilised - cassowary, pig and human. Traditional
blood and lime binding on flight shaft join.
Typically used on head hunting and revenge
raids. Identified by Barry Craig (author & SA
Museum) as from the Bedamuni (Biami) on the
Nomad River west of Mt Bosavi at the upper
reaches of the Strickland River. The Biami were
cannibals - refer book "Cannibal" by JL
Anderson.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: ARMBANDS (2-a,b)

WOVEN/NASSA
Description: From Lawsons Tribal Art Auctions.
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

Area)
Description.: SHELLRING PENDANT LARGE

Museums.
A true money item.
Country: NEW GUINEA

Area)
Description.: SHELLRING PENDANTS (2) NASSA

until 1999.
True money items.
Country: NEW GUINEA

Area)
Description.: SHELLRING PENDANTS (2) BEADS

Museums.
True money items.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: WOVEN BAND BEADS/NASSA

Museums.
A true money item with trade beads and money

shells.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SEPIK
Village:
Description.: EARRINGS PAIR SINGLE

SHELLRINGS ON CASSOWARY QUILLS
Description: Collected by Ron Perry between
1964 and 1973
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.
A valued item of wearable money.
The shell rings are too small to be a true

currency but have good trade value.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SEPIK
Village:
Description.: EARRINGS PAIR GLASS RINGS ON

CASSOWARY QUILL SMALL
1964 and 1973
The glass rings were brought in by the early
Europeans in place of the shell rings.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SEPIK
Village:
Description.: Earrings Pair Shell/Glass Rings on

Cassowary Quills
1964 and 1973
The glass rings were brought in by the early
Europeans in place of the shell rings.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SEPIK
Village:
Description.: WRISTLET CONUS

1964 and 1973.
A true money item of the area.
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKRING METAL
Description: Ex Charles Opitz.
A simple copper neckring with enough copper in

it to make it a valauble trade item.
No Picture 2
Country: UNITED STATES
District:
Village:
Description.: FLINT EFFIGY TURTLE
Description: Collected by Charles Opitz - author

of the book on primitive moneys.
Fetishes were valued as gifts - often excavated
from mounds.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: FLINT EFFIGY BUFFALO
Description: Collected by Charles Opitz - author

of the book on primitive moneys.
Fetishes were valued as gifts - often excavated
from mounds.
No Picture 2
Country: BANKS ISLANDS
District:
Village:
Description.: FEATHER -WETAPUP-
Description: A wearable decoration/money - see

Quiggins page 135.
No Picture 2
Country: TURKEY
District:
Village:
Description.: MYRHH AND FRANKINCENSE
Modern examples of the two spices given as

presents at the birth of Christ.
No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
District: NORTHERN TERRITORY
Village: ROPER RIVER AREA
Description.: WOOMERA WOODEN
Description: Collected by Keith Langford-Smith,

the famous "Sky Pilot" missionary in the Roper
River area in the period 1931-1935.
Keith Langford Smith was a missionary at the

CMS Roper River mission. In 1930 he purchased
a Gypsy Moth plane and explored air routes and
places where Aborigines had not met the white
man. He flew over 22,000 miles. He later
started the Marella Mission Farm at Kellyville,
wrote a number of books and conducted a radio
session on 2CH known as the Sky Pilots Log. He
was awarded an AM in 1977 in recognition of his
50 years of service to the Aboriginal people.
Woomeras were an Aboriginal trade item

through some areas of Australia.
No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
Description.: POINTING BONE

River area in the period 1931-1935..

No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
Description.: BAG STRING

No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
Description.: BULLROARER WOODEN


No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
Description.: MESSAGE STICK

River area in the period 1931-1935
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,
small and easy to carry, they were carved,
incised and painted with symbols and designs
conveying messages and information. Each
group had its own distinctive identifying marks
and often included marks to identify the carrier.
Thus it could be identified and authenticated by
neighboring groups and by translators when
taken long distances. It supported 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 No Picture 2
misinterpreted. The message 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: AUSTRALIA
Description.: BOOMERANG KYLIE

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

Australia 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.

CMS Roper River mission. In 1930 he purchased No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA


No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA


Australians would find their way to Arnhem
Land and the surrounding islands. Didgeridoos
from Arnhem Land would find their way down to
a Gypsy Moth plane and explored air routes and No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
Description.: BOOMERANG DECORATED

(DAMAGED)

a Gypsy Moth plane and explored air routes and No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: NEW BRITAIN ARAWE AREA
Village: KANDRIAN VILLAGE
Description.: PEARLSHELL PAIR (a,b)

GOLDLIP/ROPE
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
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: PORT MORESBY AREA
Description: Obtained from Spinks Auctions,

Sydney.
A highly valued trade item and similar stone

adzes have been found from near Port Moresby
to well into Indonesian Papua.
From the J Williamson collection of the 1930s.
Collected in the Papuan Gulf-Port Moresby area.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NKO (KE-KAO) -KWOJUMA-

Kwojuma". These were used in Brideprice, the
Class #22.
Previous owner was Regina Abel of Abeleti
Village.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: EAST POINT VILLAGE
Description.: NKO (KE-KAO) -PWOJUMA-

Pwojuma". These were used in Brideprice, the
Class #21 1984.
Previous owner was Joe Lomonge.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description: Previous was Patrick Segana of

Abeleti Village.
Rossel
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NDAP TEBUDONGTUO Class #8
Description: Previously owned by Takama Bata

of Abeleti Village.
Rossel
the denomination " Tebudongtuo". These were
made by a god and were used in Brideprice, the
god Wonajo was a cannibal). Of the highest
rarity)
Country: NEW GUINEA

CALLED -WOLWOL
Description: The previous owner was Toto Abel.
Called Wolwol, the common name for necklaces.

This necklace has the red sapi-sapi shell discs
that are used in Bagi and other valuables in the
Kula Trade Cycle. They have been traded from
Rossel to the Massim area for many decades. It
is made up as a wearable necklace but is a true
money item.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: BASKET KWAPPE OR KWABE
Description: Basket called Kwappe or Kwabe.

This basket is made in two layers, so that
money can be secreted in the lining.
Previously owned by Mathew Abo of Abeleti
Village.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NDAP TEBUDUMBO Class #11

of Abeleti Village.
Rossel
the denomination " Tebudumbo". These were
rarity)
important and extremely rare item
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: JARU VILLAGE
Description.: NKO (KE-KAO) -TEBUDONGTUO-

Tebudongtuo". These were used in Brideprice,
the price for killing a man, warfare payments,
Class #8 1984.
Previous owner was David Micheal.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NOSESTICK CLAMSHELL -NII- (2-

a,b)
Description: A lower value style of nosestick.
Previous owner was David Micheal of Jaru
Village.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: PIG TUSK
Description: A trade item. Previously owned by

Takama Bata and used on lime-pot tops.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: STONE PESTLE -MPUEMA- OR -

MBIMA-
Description: Called Mpuema or Mbima.
Previously owned by Takama Bata of Abeleti

Village. It is ancient but has been used for
cracking nuts - was not used with a mortar.
It is also used in rain making and was a gift

from the magic people of Rossel Island.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NKO (KE-KAO) -YEALANGWINDO-

Yealangwindo". These were used in Brideprice,
Class #10 1984.
Previous was Linus Paul.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: LIME SPATULA WOOD JA
Description: Previously owned by Bena Tom 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: NEW GUINEA

of Rossel Island.

collection.).
No Picture 2
Country: PACIFIC
District:
Village:
Description.: DRILL WOOD WITH METAL TIP

(a,b,c)
Description: The normal drill, to hole shell and
wood, Probably from the Solomons.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: WALLETS (3-A,B,C) FOR KINA

Sydney.
Bark wallets used to hold and protect the kina

valuables.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: 'BIRD HEAD' AREA
Description.: SHELLRING OF 3 TROCHUS RINGS

Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: WESTERN DANI AREA
Description.: NASSA SHELL

FRONTLET/PENDANT
Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: FETISH BAG STRING WITH TUSK

DECORATION
Description: A Fetish which possesses a gender
and spirituality.
Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: TOBACCO

with 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. He
often travelled for six or eight months a year
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.
Tobacco in custom leaf wrapping.from the
Western Dani. A traditional trade/money item.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: ORMU VILLAGE

POLISHED
Description: Called Hefa.

and 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
Sepik River, the Southern Highlands and Enga
Province of PNG, Vanuatu and the Solomons.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: YAPEN ISLAND

SAPARO
sago.
Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: BALIEM VALLEY
Description.: MONEY NET CALLED SU - TRUE

MONEY - NOT USED AS A BAG
From the Dani people - used as money only -
not as a net bag.
with cultural groups including the Asmat,
Mimika, Marind Anim , people of Lake Sentani
and Geelvink Bay and spent time in Sepik River
area, 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
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: BALIEM VALLEY
Description.: BAG STRING-MONEYBAG

Used specifically to hold Je Stones, cowrie
bands and Money Nets.
Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: HEADBAND CASSOWARY PLUMES
Description: A valued and wearable

trade/money item..
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District: Masai People
Village:
Description.: SPEARHEAD IRON

Sydney.Iron was money in many parts of Africa
(see Quiggin) and spearheds were particularly
valued as a monetary weapon.
These spearheads were used in the young
men's right of passage in killing a lion.
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: LOTUS ROOT COIN
Description: Said to have been used as money

during the ZHOU Dynasty, 1122-255 BC
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: GONG DRUM KYEE ZEE
Description: Obtained from John Magers,

Sydney.
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
District:
Village:
Description.: SPEAR HAFTED IRON BLADE
Description: Obtained from Lawsons Tribal Art

Auctions, Sydney.
Called Fang-Kao or generically Sibat.
The metal head of the spear was made by local

Igorot smiths, usually with the raw metal
coming from China. However, the shaft
traditionally must be made by the owner of the
spear.
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE SEED AND SHELL
Description: Monetary necklace of dentalium

shells and seeds.
ex Lawsons Tribal Art Auctions.
No Picture 2
Country: INDONESIA
District: TIMOR
Village:
Description.: ARMRING SILVER

Sydney.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SEPIK
Village:
Description.: ADZE HAFTED STONE BLADE
Description: A simple stone blade adze from the

Sepik area.
A trade item throughout the area.
No Picture 2
Country: INDONESIA
District: JAVA
Village:
Description.: AXEBLADE STONE

Sydney.
A very early trade item.
No Picture 2
Country: INDONESIA
District: JAVA
Village:

Sydney.
A very early trade item.
No Picture 2
Country: INDONESIA
District: ALOR 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: SARAWAK
District: MURUT PEOPLE
Village: LAWAS VILLAGE
Description.: BLOWPIPE, QUIVER AND DARTS
Description: From the Murut Dyaks.

By Alex Spillius, S E Asia Correspondent.24 Feb
2001 Dayaks armed with spears, machetes and
blowpipes killed 200 people in a town in Borneo
during six days of violence in order to drive out
thousands of migrants resented for taking jobs
and land. The heads of many of the dead were
taken as trophies. A local doctor, Dr Sukhami,
said the victims had been hacked with
traditional Borneo swords called mandau or shot
with poisoned darts from blowguns.
The method to make a blowgun was to cut a
long piece of wood, lashing it vertically to a tree
and drilling into the end with a long iron rod
having a triangular steel point. This was done
by lifting, dropping and turning the rod, which
was kept in proper alignment by forked guides.
An assistant ladled water into the hole to float
out the chips. It was then planed to the proper
diameter and the bore smoothed. It required
specialized tools and a great deal of skill on the
part of the maker. The resulting tube was also
strong enough to serve as a spear shaft and
many examples have an iron spear head. Bored
blowguns became an item of export and were
found far from their point of manufacture.
Country: SARAWAK
District:
Village: LAWAS VILLAGE
Description.: NECKLACE (2) GLASS SEEDBEADS
Description: Collected by Neville Horn, a Board

member of the Borneo Evangelical Mission. He
was in Lawas for ten days in 1968 speaking to
National Leaders, missionaries, etc. These
necklaces were presented to him after his talks
as he was leaving.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SEPIK
Village: ILAHITA VILLAGE
Description.: COWRIE OVULA
Description: N HORN DIRECTOR OF SOUTH

SEAS EVANGELICAL MISSION IN THE 1960S AT
ILAHITA (TAMBERAM CENTRE) IN SEPIK BASIN.
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.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: SKIRT BOARD WOODEN

Auctions, Sydney.
This is a Massim cutting board which is used for

making women's money in the form of skirts
and banana leaf bundles.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: WESTERN ASMAT

Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: DANI

Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: WESTERN ASMAT
Description.: HEADBAND CASSOWARY PLUMES

Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: Fringe area between Amat and Dani

People

Museums.
Froom the fringe area between the Asmat and
Dani people. A standard item in the area.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: STONE PENDANTS (2) SMALL

Museums.
Ormu Village is the area from which the famous
polished axes originate.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: SORONG VILLAGE
Description.: BEADS WHITE GLASS

Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NOSESTICK CLAMSHELL -NII-

(LARGEST)
Description: Stated in Armstrongs book that
only chiefs can wear these nosesticks of over a
certain length. This one would have only been
worn by chiefs. Of high value.
Previous owner was Willy Toor of Jinjo Village. It
was originally owned by a man named Noah
who wore it. When Noah died it was passed
down to his son Toor who wore it. When Toor
died his son Willy received it and kept it in his
memory. Willy did not wear it as he had no nose
hole.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NKO (KE-KAO) -DIAMADUO-

Diamaduo". These were used in Brideprice, the
Class 13
Previous owner was Willy Toor of Jinjo Village.
Used for buying pigs, canoes, houses and so on.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: NJARU VILLAGE ON SOUTH COAST
Description.: NKO (KE-KAO) -DIAMA (TIAMA)

Diama". 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).
Class #9
Previously owned by Jerome Kaiyobu of Njaru
Village who obtained it from his father who
received it from his aunt at a pig feast.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: PUM VILLAGE
Description: Previous owner was Muo Teuyu of

the small village of Kedevou at Yonga Bay. His
father None Ntumama gave it to him at a pig
feast in Pum Village.
Rossel
pig at a ceremonial pig feast. No Picture 2
Moneys. An important and extremely rare item.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: NJARU VILLAGE
Description.: NDAP KEJIM Class #3
Description: Jerome Kaiyobu of Njaru Village

owned this shell and it had been passed down
to him through his family who had owned it for
generations.
Rossel
the denomination "Kejim". These were made by
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NDAP GAMA Class #2
Description: Jerome Kaiyobu of Njaru Village

owned yhis shell and it had been passed down
to him through his family who had owned it for
generations.
Rossel
the denomination "Gama". These were made by
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description: Previously owned by a native

named Kaiyobu of Jinjo Village who received it
from the North coast in Bride Price payment at
the marriage of his niece Yakuda to the groom
John Paul.
Rossel

Moneys.

Country: RUSSIA
District:
Village:
Description.: COIN SILVER -WIRE KOPECK-
Description: Coin struck from silver wire. Russia

16th century.
No Picture 2
District: Santa Catalina (now Owariki)
Village: TAMASIRA VILLAGE
Description.: SHELLRING TROCHUS

Obtained from native named Sisal Makua of
Tamasira Village. Local name of the item is Fato.
Museums.
District: SANTA CATALINA
Village: TAMASIRA VILLAGE
Description.: PEARLSHELL KNIFE

Obtained from a native named Jack Wataro.
Museums.
Country: SIAM
District:
Village: Ban Chiang
Description.: Terra Cotta Roller Stamp
Description: These are grave goods.
Excavations at Ban Chiang and Man Na Di were

found elaborately carved rollers similar to those
found at Somrong Sen in Cambodia. These are
said to date to between 300BC to 200AD,
although differing dates have been given, and
were found in the graves of children aged from
1 to 6 years of age. No adult burials had rollers.
Similar items from Ecuador were used to stamp

designs on the body of the deceased. Other
suggestions for use are stamps for printing.
Although they look as if they could have been

used to decorate fabric, they probably
never were. They are found in childrens graves,
and so perhaps they were charmsbut probably
charms with personal or family associations. No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Western Highlands
Village: Minj Area
Description: From the Konumbuka people - a

clan of the Minj.
Ex Lawsons Tribal Art Auctions



fangs of the python which had great significance No Picture 2
in PNG mythology.
Quain, B. (1948), Pig tusks are used as

Rakua F (1987) After cooking, the head of the

pig is removed with the tusks intact and is
village.
price.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: WESTERN HIGHLANDS
Village:
Description.: DAGGER BONE(SAID TO BE

HUMAN)
Description: Although stated by Lawsons to be
made from a human bone this dagger is
probably cassowary bone. It is stated to have
come from the Western Highlands.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA

metal objects.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKRING METAL
Description: A Wearable valuable from the Hill

tribes of Siam.
Ex Lawsons Tribal Auctions Sydney.
No Picture 2
District: Nggela
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING VALUABLE RED

Honiara, Solomons.
This is a superb, long string of red custom

money from Nggela. It is called Malona.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:

Hokata)
Honiara, Solomon Islands.
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

hole to edge. They were made from the upper
white sections of fossilized T. Gigas and T.
Squamosa shells. No Picture 2
Following bakiha in importance are poata, which

are made from the upper and whiter sections of
fossilised T.gigas and T. squamosa clamshells;
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
District: TIKOPIA
Village:

Honiara, Solomons.
Tapa cloth Was used as a money substitute on

Tikopia.
Dillon's account of his 1827 expedition mentions
the trade between Tikopia and Vanikoro from
where was obtained pearl shell, shell
ornaments, shell necklaces and bows and
arrows. In exchange Tikopia provided mats
(presumably of pandanus) and
"tapar" (presumably barkcloth).,
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING WHITE

Honiara, Solomons.
This is a long string of white custom money.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: SALT BLOCK IN LEAF AND CANE

WRAPPING
Museums.
A true high value money item. Also a rare item

in itself.
District: MALAITA SOUTH
Village:
Description: A valued cone shell pendant from

South Malaita.
Obtained from Sir Mariano Kelesi of Honiara.
No Picture 2
District: REEF ISLANDS
Village:
Description.: ADZEBLADE CLAMSHELL

Honiara, Solomons.
A highly valued trade/money item of the area.

Shell was used as stone was scarce.
No Picture 2
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING CLAMSHELL OVAL

SHAPE-
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
being alive and when they die (are broken ?)
their spirit goes to Sondo the residence of
ancestral spirits. It is likely that a somewhat 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.
Village:

Honiara, Solomons.

seek their aid..
No Picture 2
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.
Obtained from Sir Mariano Kelesi, Honiara,

Solomon Islands.
No Picture 2
Village:
Description.: BARAVA CLAMSHELL

Often attached to the outside of the small

chiefly skull house. They are wealth items and
symbols of authority. 19th century or earlier.

Solomon Islands.
No Picture 2
District: MALAITA NORTH
Village:
Description.: Necklace with a Clamshell

Pendant. (LAO)
Honiara, Solomons.
A money shellstring necklace with an ancient

clamshell disc pendant.
The shellstring is a standard money shellstring

and the clamshell pendant is an ancient custom
valuable called a Lao or a Laonassi.
No Picture 2
Village:

Honiara, Solomons.

No Picture 2
Village:

Honiara, Solomons.

No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: YAPEN ISLAND

SAPARO
sago.
Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SEPIK
Village:
Description.: FLUTE WOODEN
Description: See Mountain Arapesh II by

Margaret Mead - she mentions a number of
times that they are traded throughout the Sepik
Area.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: ARMBAND CONUS (SECTIONED)
Description: Ex lawsons Tribal Arts Auction.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Sepik Area
Village:
Description: A highly valued money/trade item

of the area.
From Lawsons Tribal Art auctions
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: NOSESTICK CLAMSHELL (possibly

bone)
Description: If shell it is a highly valued
money/trade item of the area, if made of bone
it is a minor item of value.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: NOSESTICK MELO BAILER SHELL
Description: An unusual nosestick in that it is

made from Melon or Bailer shell. Probably from
the Sepik it would be a high value trade itrm.
Acquired from Lawsons Tribal Art Auctions.
No Picture 2
Country: BORNEO
District:
Village: DYAK
Description.: DRUM WOOD ANIMAL HIDE
Description: Has minimal trade value.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: PUMBA VILLAGE
Description: Previously owned by Diawa Teluva

of Pumba Village in Jinjo Area of Rossel Island.

collection.).
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA

CALLED -WOLWOL
Description: This necklace was made for Jerome
Kaiyobu of Jinjo Village by his friend Jerome
Noko of the Njaru area..

money item.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: YONGA BAY AREA
Description.: NDAP YERANGGEWINDO Class

#10
Description: Previously owned by Mangi
Namuea of Yonga Bay Village.
Rossel
the denomination " Yeranggewindo ". These
the highest rarity)
Village:

Honiara, Solomons.

seek their aid..
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: WHALE TOOTH
Description: Collected by Sir mariano Kelesi,

Honiara, Solomons.
Called Kalo.
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 No Picture 2
due to their low availability.
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.
From a grave on the island.
District: FATALEKA EAST
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING TROCHUS (2-a,b)

Honiara, Solomons.
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. This one comes from East Fataleka.
Trochus armrings have been excavated on

Guadalcanal and dated prior to the Lapita
Culture (1600BC to 500BC0..
No Picture 2
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING CLAMSHELL ANCIENT

Honiara, Solomons.
Called Hokata, Bokolo or Tinete.
This arring is ancient and lightly corroded. It

was found on a grave.
The smallest and slimmest of the shell valuables

are hokata. They could be made of conus or
clamshell and this one is clamshell. 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
Village:

Honiara, Solomons
Called Balau.
Bulau rings (Balau is the generic name of Conus

shells) which were used as an exchange
valuable are made from the base of the shell,
including part of the sidewall and making an
L- or I-shape in cross section. Roughly made
bulau were also used for religious offerings to
spirits in a similar manner to hinuili which were
a small ring of conus shell. Many have been
found on graves 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..
No Picture 2
District: KWAIO WEST
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE

Honiara, Solomons.
A money shell necklace from West Kwaio on

Malaita, Solomons.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:

Mbakia)
Honiara, Solomons.
Called Mbakia, Bakiha, Bakisa or Erenge (the

yellow stain is on the unseen reverse side).

which is the colour from the hinge of the giant
clam. Only a few shellrings can be made
showing the stain.

hole to edge.

concentration and extent of the yellow to red No Picture 2
stain on their surface

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.
Village:

ORNAMENT

Solomon Islands.
No Picture 2
Village:
Description.: BARAVA PEARLSHELL CANOE

ORNAMENT
vinasari) made of pearlshell. They were placed
in shrines and on graves and were also used as
a charm carried in war canoes during head
hunting expeditions to protect the crew and
ensure success.

Solomon Islands.
No Picture 2
Village:

ORNAMENT
ensure success.

Solomon Islands.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:

Honiara, Solomons.

No Picture 2
District: CHOISEUL
Village:
Description.: SET OF 9 KESA SHELLRINGS

(SALAKA)
Honiara, Solomons.
Kesa Shell Money, Western Solomon Islands,

18th - 19th Century; "kesa" is a cylindrical shell
wealth that came in different sizes and values.
It is old, and is said to have been made by the
spirit Pongo. People preserved kesa by wrapping
them in ivory palm leaves and burying them in
the ground, or by storing them in caves for
safety from raids. They came in different
denominations, from kalusape, the highest
value, possessed by the chiefs.
Each separate shell ring id called a mata, three

mata were bound in palm leaves and called a
salaka and three salaka made one kesa.
A full set or salaka is shown here and they were
used for purchases of land and pigs, for bride No Picture 2
price, the price to kill a man and to pay major
fines.
An ordinary girl was worth 3 to 5 kesa in bride

price and the daughter of a big man cost more.
See Opitz page 174.
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.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA

POLISHED
Description: Called Hefa.

Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: BRIDGE MONEY
Description: Bridge Money have now been dated

to c. 306-221BC and are accepted by many -
but not all - Chinese numismatists as actual
coins of Ba and Shu States. HAN DYNASTY, 206
BC - 220 AD
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.
for Sothebys
Country: EGYPT
District: SAKKARA
Village:
Description.: RINGS IVORY (2-a,b)
Description: These items, dating to the Middle

Kingdom times (circa 2050 BC and 1800 BC),
came from excavations at Sakkara.
Ancient Egyptians traded with their African and

Mediterranean neighbors to obtain goods, such
as cedar, lapis lazuli, gold, ivory, and more.
They exported goods, such as papyrus, linen,
and finished objects using a variety of land and
maritime trading routes.
Wall paintings at Knossos and Phaistos depict

African slaves, ostrich eggs and ivory.
Ivory was a valuable and sought after valuable.

These money items are about 4,000 years old.
No Picture 2
District: Northern Luzon
Village: Igorot People

Auctions, Sydney.
Called Fal-Feg or generically Sibat.
The metal head of the spear was made by local

Igorot smiths, usually with the raw metal
coming from China. However, the shaft
traditionally must be made by the owner of the
spear.
Country: INDONESIA
District: LOMBOK
Village:
Description.: ANKLERINGS (PAIR) WHITE

METAL
Sydney.
Made from a white metal.
No Picture 2
Country: INDONESIA
District: SUMBA ISLAND
Village:
Description.: COPPER WIRE ROPE LOLO AMAS
Description: Called Lolu amahu or loluamas.

Copper Wire Woven Chain used as a type of
money in Sumbawa and Sumba Islands. Used
mainly for marriage gifts and ratification of
contracts - not in ordinary exchanges. It was a
traditionall component in Bride Price.
No Picture 2
Country: MEXICO
District: GUERRERO
Village:
Description.: JADE CARVED HEAD MEZCALA

INDIANS
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.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MAPRIK
Village:
Description.: SHELL MELO PENDANT BAILER

SHELL
Description: From the Maprik area.
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.
See Quiggin page 175.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SUDEST near Rossel
Village:
Description.: AXEBLADE STONE called giyazago

in Sudest.
Sydney.
These are now primarily used on Sudest for

funeral feasts where the stone blades are
deliberatedly chipped, as with this example, by
a mourner to illustrate the depth and severity of
their mourning.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SUDEST - near Rossel
Village:
Description.: AXEBLADE STONE called giyazago

in Sudest
Description: THIS BLADE MATCHED WITH
LOUISIADES HAFT REF #1553
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MAPRIK
Village: DUMBIT 2 VILLAGE

Auctions, Sydney.
A well made stone adzeblade.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MAPRIK
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE DOGSTEETH & TRADE

BEADS
valued in trade.
One of the most valued money items

throughout New Guinea. Also used in Bride
Price.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MAPRIK
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE - HUMAN TEETH
Description: A money shell necklace from the

Maprik area of New Guinea. Has some teeth as
well including some human teeth.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: WEO VILLAGE JEREP RIVER, WEST

ASMAT AREA
Description.: PENDANT BAMBOO (ASMAT)

This pendant denotes that the wearer has taken
a head.
Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: DANI AREA
Description.: COMB WOOD AND FIBRE

Museums.
Village:
Description.: DAFI PEARLSHELL CRESCENT

Honiara, Solomons.
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.
This example is old and was found on a grave
on New Georgia.
Village:

Honiara, Solomons.

are hokata made from conus shells. These were
to chiefs 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: WESTERN AREA
Village:
Description: This is a Barava also called



Solomon Islands.
No Picture 2
Village:

ORNAMENT
ensure success.

Solomon Islands.
No Picture 2
Village:

ORNAMENT
ensure success.

Solomon Islands.
No Picture 2
Village:

ORNAMENT
ensure success.

Solomon Islands.
No Picture 2
District: SANTA ISABEL
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING CLAMSHELL 93mm

(called Hokata)
Honiara, Solomons.

are hokata. They could be made of conus or
clamshell and this one is thought to be
clamshell due to its size and no evidence of
conus markings. 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.
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.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: ARMRING CONUS MWALI
Description: Used in the Kula Trade Cycle
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: LIME SPATULA WOOD JA (LARGE)
Description: Previous owner was Jerome

Kaiyobu of Rossel Island.

collection.).
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NKO (KE-KAO) -GUMINDO-

man came to Rossel, this is the Shell Coin of
Rossel Island called Nko. It is of the
denomination "Nko Ke-Kao Gumindo". Used in
and funerary payments, and as the price for
part of the body of the victim at a cannibal feast
(Rossel Islanders were cannibals because their
Armstrong estimates about 800 Nko coins split
between 16 different denominations. Any Nko is
of the highest rarity. Opitz allocates a full page
to Ndap and Nko and in-depth articles have
Journals. Quiggins 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 No Picture 2
Class #16.
Previous owner was Jerome Kaiyobu and was
paid to Jeromes father Kaiyobu Tepa in 1990 as
bride price for his daughter Angella Beaga from
the boys clan. The boys name is Marcullus Neko
of Pume Village and his clan is Nkgea.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NDAP KWEIA Class #5

kaiyobu of Njaru Village who received it from
his father Kaiyobu Tepa. It was paid to
Jerome''''s father in 1990 as Bride Price for his
daughter Angella Beaga from the groom''''s
clan. Thegroom''''s name is Marcullus Neko Of
Pume Village.
Rossel
the denomination "Kweia". These were made by
Armstrong, in his book on Rossel, estimates No Picture 2
items
and Armstrong, in his 1928 book, gives twenty
five pages to them.

Country: NEW GUINEA
Description: Received by one of the clan of

Jerome Kaiyobu of Njaru Village in Bride Price.
Rossel
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: AXEBLADE STONE MASSIM. Also

called Beku in Trobriands
Description: 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 in
Rossel.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

valuable.
Called Ngwe.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: COWRIE OVULA
Description: A valued trade item throughout

much of New Guines. Added to enhance the
appearance of the Mwali used in the Kula Trade.
No Picture 2
Country: BURMA
District:
Village: NAGA PEOPLE
Description.: BEADS CONUS (2)
Description: SHELL MONEY OF THE POMO

INDIANS.
No Picture 2
Country: MIDDLE EAST
District: ASIA MINOR
Village:
Description.: ARROWHEAD BRONZE
Description: C1000-500BC - ARROWHEAD

SHAPE
No Picture 2
Country: MIDDLE EAST
District:
Village:
Description.: ARROWHEAD BRONZE
Description: 2-12TH CENT AD - LEAF SHAPE
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: COWRIE IMITATION STONE
Description: Excavated from early graves.

Han or earlier
No Picture 2
Country: INDONESIA
District:
Village:

No Picture 2
Country: INDONESIA
Village:
Description: Called Lolu amahu or loluamas

No Picture 2
Country: INDONESIA
Village:

No Picture 2
Country: BURMA
District: NORTH
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE GLASS BEADS

valued in trade.
No Picture 2
Country: JUDEA
District: NEAR HEBRON
Village:
Description.: CLOAKPIN BRONZE
Description: Purchased from David Hendon -

Expert and author of "Guide to Biblical Coins".
Metal wearable items were given in minor
payments and gifts at this time.
No Picture 2
Country: JUDEA
District:
Village:
Description.: WEIGHT INGOT RING SHAPE

BRONZE
Description: Of ring shape to enable being
carried on poles or to stack on scales. Used as a
currency in Ancient Israel before coins. An
identical one is on display at the Israeli Museum
and dated to 900-700BC.
Purchased from David Hendon - Expert and

author of "Guide to Biblical Coins".
A hoard of more than 300 similar ingots

(referred to in the excavation reports as
'anklets' [also impossible given the very thick
bronze, which could have never been put on a
person] was found in an Iron Age II tomb (c.
8th century BCE) Near Kibbutz Lahav in the
south of Israel (Biran & Gophna 1970: 156).
No Picture 2
Country: ROMAN EMPIRE
District:
Village:
Description.: INGOT AES RUDE COPPER
Description: C500-300BC. Purchased from

David Hendon - Expert and author of "Guide to
Biblical Coins".
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 No Picture 2
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
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: MEXICO
District: TARASCAN
Village:
Description.: OBSIDIAN KNIFE (2-a,b)

TARASCAN
Pre Colombian used in trade by the Tarascan

people in the period 1100AD-1530AD
No Picture 2
Country: FRANCE
District:
Village:
Description.: RING MONEY CELTIC (2-a,b)
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: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE RUSSIAN BLUE BEADS
Bohemia - mid 1800s trades widely, especially

by Russians into Alaska.
No Picture 2
Country: CONGO
District:
Village:
Description.: BEADS GLASS (2) AGGRY
Venice 1750-1850.High value bead used in Gold

Coast gold trade and called "King Bead". Best
claimant as true Aggry. Quiggin p39-40.
No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
District:
Village:
Description.: STONE SEEDGRINDER
Description: Collected by Max Berry in about

1960 about 20 miles from Orange on the road
to Mookera.
It is a grinding dish for seeds. A favoured trade

item among the Aborigines.
This nardoo dish is 480mm long and is unique

in the fact that it is made a ripple stone. Ripple
stone occurs in Australia in high and low terrain
it is formed in ancient times by water lapping
on sands and sediments (such as seen at a
beach or river bank etc.) and then gets trapped
and petrified over millions of years.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

Beku in the Trobriands and Mbu Op Butu in
Rossel.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

Beku in the Trobriands and Mbu Op Butu.
This is a truly ancint example as evidenced by
the oxidation of the stone.
No Picture 2
District: CHOISEUL
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING -MAULEVATA-

CLAMSHELL
Honiara, Solomons.
Called Maulevata.
A very highly valued and very large (158mm

diameter by 31mm edge height) clamshell ring
from Choiseul Island in the Solomons. Used in
high value purchases and placed on the graves
of very important men.
This item came from a grave on Choiseul Island.
No Picture 2
Village:



Solomon Islands.
No Picture 2
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.

Solomon Islands.
No Picture 2
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.

Solomon Islands.
No Picture 2
Country: BURMA
District:
Village: NAGA PEOPLE
Description.: ARMRING BRASS

Sydney.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NKO (KE-KWU-KAO) -

THYELENGWINJININDO-
Thyelengwinjinindo". These were used in
because their god Wonajo was a cannibal).
Class #13.
Previously owned by Philipe Abel of Abeleti
Village.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NKO (KE-KWU-KAO) -TEBEDUMBO

-
Tebedumbo". These were used in Brideprice, the
Class #11.
Previous owner was Philipe Abel of Abeleti
Village.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NOSESTICK CLAMSHELL -NII-

(SMALLEST)
Description: 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.
Previous owner was Takama Bata of Abeleti
Village.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: YELLOW ROOTS - A DYE
Description: Previously owned by Cathy Tom of

Abeleti Village. Used to dye grass skirts and
dried coconut leaves for baskets and mats. In
the olden days used in Rain Magic to stop rain.
A useful and important plant in native life.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: KOLUA ROOTS
Description: EPrevious owner was Thomas Pindi

of Abeleti Village. A green plane with round
leaves. The roots are used to make magic and
also a medicine for sorcery sickness. The root
smells when cut or bitten. A useful and
important plant in native life.
A minor trade item on the Island.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: MEUM ROOTS
Description:
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: SANDALWOOD BARK CALLED

KYMAE
Description: Previously owned by Thomas Pindi
of Abeleti Village.
On Rossel the bark called Ome is used for
magical purposes and they also chew it. It is
also exportrd to Sudest.
Visitors from Sudest might be given pieces of

sandalwood bark which is valued as a powerful
magical item and for medicinal purposes.
was a popular trade item to Sudest.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NDAP KOMONDAP Class #4
Description: Previously owned by Piwe Abel of

Jaru Village.
Rossel
the denomination "Komondap". These were
rarity)
Country: NEW GUINEA

Kaiyobu of Jinjo Village who received this shell
coin, with others, in payment at a Bride Price
payment. The bride was Aggatha Yuto (a close
relation to Kaiyobu) and the groom was Paul
Peter and the bride price feast was held at Jinjo
Village.
Rossel
items
five pages to them.

Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: SHELL LID FROM TRUMPET SHELL
Description: Previously owned by Kadawa Tom

of Abeleti Village. It was used as a medicine
when a person was poisoned through witchcraft.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: DAMANU VILLAGE
Description.: MAGIC STONE USED TO KILL OR -

PURRY-PURRY- PEOPLE
Description: Previously owned by Magwa Boede
of Damanu Village. This stone is reported as
being black on the outside but green on the
inside. They are found ONLY on the sea shore
near Damanu Village in the West. Only a few
Big People own them on all of Rossel. In the
olden days people used these magic stones with
magic words to kill.
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: ARMRING COPPER
Description: Monetary Bracelet
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description: Monetary Bracelet
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description: Manilla Style Monetary Bracelet
No Picture 2
Country: NIGERIA
District: Eastern Fulani
Village: Mumuye People
Description.: IRON BAR CALLED "TAJERE"
Description: Eastern Fulani, 16-19th c., iron bar,

with expansion in center, like a snake that
swallowed a pig. Called "losol," "sasoreng,"
"tajere," or "saka." Made by Batta and Mumuye
peoples, in servitude to the Fulani,
Refer illustration p87 Fig 23 Quiggin's
No Picture 2
Country: OLBIA
District: Black Sea Region
Village: and Lower Danube area
Description.: ARROWHEAD MONEY
Description: A true money.

7th to 5th century BC. Refer Monetary
Circulation and the Political History of Archaix
Borysthenes by Sergei Solovyov.
No Picture 2
District: CHOISEUL
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING -MAULEVATA-

CLAMSHELL LARGER
Honiara, Solomons.
Called Maulevata.
A very highly valued and very large (190mm

diameter by 50mm edge height) clamshell ring
from Choiseul Island in the Solomons. Used in
high value purchases and placed on the graves
of very important men.
This item came from a grave on the island.
No Picture 2
Village:
Description.: BARAVA NEWER FRETWORKED
Description:
No Picture 2
Village:



Solomon Islands.
No Picture 2
Village:



Solomon Islands.
No Picture 2
District: MALAITA
Village:
Description.: DAFI WITH NECKLACE

Honiara, Solomons.

Some have the tortoiseshell figate bird emblem
District: MALAITA
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING LEG DECORATION

KETEKOME PAIR (a,b)
Honiara, Solomons.
Called Ketekome.
A shell money used as a leg decoration.
No Picture 2
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING MONEY CALLED -

FULU- OR -AEGALU-
Honiara, Solomons.
This is a superb, long string of custom money

from North Malaita. It is called Fulu or Aegalu.
No Picture 2
District: MALAITA
Village:
Description.: Nosestick Clamshell (possibly

bone) with Bamboo Container
Honiara, Solomons.
If shell it is a highly valued money/trade item of

the area, if made of bone it is a minor item of
value. Since it was stored in a protective
container it is probably shell.
No Picture 2
District: CHOISEUL
Village:

Honiara, Solomons.
Large axe blade which was a popular trade

item.
No Picture 2
Village:
Description.: BELT OF WOVEN SHELLDISCS

CALLED -ESU-
Honiara, Solomons.
A highly valued wearable money.
No Picture 2
Country: UBANGI To THE CONGO
District:
Village: BANGALA AREA
Description.: SPEARHEAD IRON (BANGALA)

CEREMONIAL
Description: Called Mbili.
Attributed to Bangala (Opitz p.102, Althoff p.30)

and Lobala and Banja groups of the Ngbaka
people. Illustrated P65 Fig 11 Quiggin's.
This Bangala iron money shows where the

original spearhead has evolved into a currency
item which would be useless for use as a spear.
No Picture 2
Country: PERU
District:
Village:
Description.: SILVER PANEL THIN

Sydney.
Chimu Culture 13-15th Century AD.
Little information is found of the Chimu who

were absorbed by the Inca. However they
peoduced unmarked discs of silver ans scales
which have led to suggestions that forms of
silver may have enjoed monetary use.
This pane has circular impressions in squares of

dots which would make it quite easy to break
off small sections?
See Taxay page 18.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:



Solomon Islands.
No Picture 2
District: MALAITA
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE WITH DOLPHIN TEETH

Honiara, Solomons.
A high value necklace consisting of a money

shellstring with porpoise teeth inclusions.
The porpoise teeth are a high value money
through most of the Solomons.
No Picture 2
Village:

Honiara, Solomons.

No Picture 2
Village:

Honiara, Solomons.

No Picture 2
Village:
Description.: ADZEBLADE TEREBRA SHELL

Honiara, Solomons.
Nice adzeblade made from a Trerebra shell.

Stone was very scarce in the area.
No Picture 2
Country: INDONESIA
District: MADURA
Village:
Description.: ANKLERINGS (PAIR) WHITE

METAL
Sydney.
Very old and well worn.

Made from a white metal.
No Picture 2
Country: INDONESIA
District: SUMATRA
Village: BATAK
Description.: ARMRING COPPER (HOLLOW)

Sydney.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SEPIK
Village:
Description.: SHELL MELO PENDANT ON CORD
Description: From the Sepik area.

No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SEPIK
Village:
Description.: Pig Tusk Pendant with Inscribed

Dog Teeth on Cord.
Description: From the Admiralty Islands area,
easily recognised by the inscribed dog teeth..
Ex Lawsons Tribal Art Auctions.



in PNG mythology.
No Picture 2

village.
price.
District:
Village:

Tinete)
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 and is corroded from
weathering (probably on a shrine or grave).
These were normally less valuable than the

Poata and were used in barter, marital rituals,
''ritually designated women''.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:

Tinete)


made of clamshell and is corroded from
weathering (probably on a shrine or grave).

''''ritually designated women''''.
No Picture 2
C No: C.1349c Acq Date: 9307
District:
Village:

Tinete)


made of clamshell.

'ritually designated women'.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:

Tinete)


made of clamshell.

''ritually designated women''.
It is a true money item and is the lowest value

of the three true money items of the area - No Picture 2
Mbakia, Poata and Hokata.
District:
Village:

Honiara, Solomons.

seek their aid.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:

Honiara, Solomons.

seek their aid..
No Picture 2
District: GELA
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING VALUABLE RED

Honiara, Solomons.

money from Gela. It is called Kogana.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NDAP YERANGGEWINDO Class

#10
Description: Received by Jerome of Njaru
Village from the Kebo clan at the burial feast of
his uncle Chimba Tilly. It was previously used in
many pig and burial feasts.
Rossel
the denomination " Yeranggewindo ". These
the highest rarity)

Moneys.

Country: GERMANY
District:
Village:
Description.: AXEBLADE BRONZE
Description: Bronze socketed axe excavated in

Germany. The axes are mainly unused and may
have been a form of ingot of primitive currency.
They contain a high amount of lead or consist of
pure lead and are distributed from the Iberian
Peninsula to eastern Germany, Ireland and
Southern Britain, with some pieces from
Scotland, Poland and Switzerland. ca800BC
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: BELL MONEY BRONZE
Description: CHINA, ZHOU Dynasty, 1122-255

BC
No Picture 2
Country: BRUNEI
District:
Village:
Description.: CANNON BRONZE MINIATURE
Description: 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: KATANGA
District: Ingombe Ilede / Chedzurgwe
Village:
Description.: CROSS COPPER MEDIUM H 70mm
Description: Ingombe-Ilede Cross Large

"Katanga" cross with raised rims from the
Ingombe Ilede / Chedzurgwe culture complex
(northern Zimbabwe) of the 15th-16th 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, for instance, 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: Sudan and Congo
District:
Village: Azande People
Description.: IRON BLADE
Description: Called Marakumbi.
The Pitt Rivers Museum has an almost exactly

similar item in its collection.
These blades were used as bride money, and
according to Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton
has the local name bananan (see 1934.8.131,
which has a similar form and function). The
University of Leeds also have a comparable
blade in their Anthropology collections,
equipped with handle, which is attributed to
Sudan or the Democratic Republic of Congo (FL
1965.388, WHMM 53562).
Country: JAPAN
District:
Village:
Description.: COIN OVAL BRASS HUNDRED

MON TEMPO TSUHO 1835-70
Description: Coin of japan.
No Picture 2
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING CLAMSHELL THIN-

WALLED
Honiara, Solomons.
This is an unusual money ring from New

Georgia.
It is unusual in the crudeness of manufacture

with regard to top and bottom. The walls
however are smooth and regular. It is as thin
walled as a hokata but the walls are quite high
90mm diameter, walls 9 x 33mm.
The name of this ring is not known.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: BARAVA SHELLRING BROKEN
Description: This broken ring of clamshell is a

Barava called Bokolo (bokolo is also the name
given to a normal clamshell hokata money ring)
(also called vinasari).
It was used in bride price, to buy land and for

tribal reconciliation and compensation. It was
also "Kastom Money" and placed on shrines and
graves. This one came from a grave.

Solomon Islands.
No Picture 2
District: DUFF ISLANDS
Village:
Description.: ADZEBLADE CLAMSHELL LARGE

Honiara, Solomons.

No Picture 2
Village:
Description.: ADZEBLADE CLAMSHELL SMALL

Honiara, Solomons.

No Picture 2
Village:

Honiara, Solomons.

No Picture 2
Village:

Honiara, Solomons.

No Picture 2
District: GUADALCANAL
Village:

Honiara, Solomons.

No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: FISHHOOKS (2-a,b)

TORTOISESHELL
Honiara, Solomons.

No Picture 2
District: Malaita
Village: Fataleka People
Description.: SHELLSTRING called Fata

Honiara, Solomons.
This money shellstring is called Fata and comes

from the Fataleka people of Malaita.
No Picture 2
District: T
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING called To'ob

Honiara, Solomons.
This money shellstring is called To'Ob.
No Picture 2
Village:

Honiara, Solomons.

No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MASSIM
Village:
Description.: MORTAR & PESTLE - MASSIM-

EBONY SMALL
Description: Ex Sothebys Peter Hallinan Sale .
In the Trobriands mortars are called Kaipita and
pestles Kaimili. They are classified as being one
of three design types - anthropomorphic shape,
drum shape and canoe shape.
They are mainly used by people with poor teeth
to crush betel nuts. They are also used for
mixing the magical concoction which
apprentices drink to internalise master carver
knowledge and for mixing and applying facial
paint.
Some are marvellous works of art and can be
handed down from father to son as family
heirlooms.
The Hallinan Collection of New Guinea Art, at

the time the largest collection of Tribal Art
offered in Australia, was auctioned by Sothebys
at the Powerhouse Museum on 28th November No Picture 2
1993.
Peter Hallinan was a famous Brisbane Art Dealer

who had collected the pieces over a twenty-five
year period, during more than twenty visits to
Papua New Guinea. He sailed from island to
island and obtained items from many out-of -
the-way places.
In Betel Chewing Equipment of East New

Guinea, Harry Beran says that betel chewing
utensils are also traded widely.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MASSIM
Village:
Description.: MORTAR & PESTLE - MASSIM

paint.
heirlooms.

1993.

the-way places.

Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MASSIM
Village:

paint.
heirlooms.

1993.

the-way places.

Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MASSIM
Village:
Description: Ex Sothebys Peter Hallinan Sale

and shaped like the bottom half of a female
body.
In the Trobriands mortars are called Kaipita

and pestles Kaimili. They are classified as being
one of three design types - anthropomorphic
shape, drum shape and canoe shape.
They are mainly used by people with poor
teeth to crush betel nuts. They are also used for
paint.
heirlooms.
The Hallinan Collection of New Guinea Art, at No Picture 2

at the Powerhouse Museum on 28th November
1993.
Peter Hallinan was a famous Brisbane Art
Dealer who had collected the pieces over a
twenty-five year period, during more than
twenty visits to Papua New Guinea. He sailed
from island to island and obtained items from
many out-of -the-way places.

C No: C.1373d Acq Date: 9311
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MASSIM
Village:

paint.
heirlooms.

1993.

the-way places.

C No: C.1373e Acq Date: 9311
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MASSIM
Village:

paint.
heirlooms.

1993.

the-way places.

C No: C.1373f Acq Date: 9311
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MASSIM
Village:

paint.
heirlooms.

1993.

the-way places.

C No: C.1373h Acq Date: 9311
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MASSIM
Village:

paint.
heirlooms.

1993.

the-way places.

C No: C.1373i Acq Date: 9311
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MASSIM
Village:

paint.
heirlooms.

1993.

the-way places.

C No: C.1373j Acq Date: 9311
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MASSIM
Village:

paint.
heirlooms.

1993.

the-way places.

C No: C.1373k Acq Date: 9311
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MASSIM
Village:

and is of drum shape.
.
paint.
heirlooms.

the time the largest collection of Tribal Art No Picture 2
1993.

the-way places.

C No: C.1373l Acq Date: 9311
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MASSIM
Village:

paint.
heirlooms.

1993.

the-way places.

C No: C.1373m Acq Date: 9311
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MASSIM
Village:

paint.
heirlooms.

1993.

the-way places.

C No: C.1373n Acq Date: 9311
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MASSIM
Village:

paint.
heirlooms.

1993.

the-way places.

C No: C.1373o Acq Date: 9311
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MASSIM
Village:
Description: The obvious display of the female

sex dates this to pre-missionary days. It
appears to be carved by the same craftsman as
the spatula in the S.B. Fellows Collection Code
Black Lime Spatulas #27. Probably 19th
Century.
In the Trobriands mortars are called Kaipita
and pestles Kaimili. They are classified as being
one of three design types - anthropomorphic
shape, drum shape and canoe shape. They were
mainly used by people with poor teeth to crush
betel nuts, they are also used for mixing the
magic concoction which apprentices drink to
internalise master carver knowledge and for
mixing and applying facial paint.
Some are marvellous works of art and are
heirlooms.
Ex Sothebys Peter Hallinan Sale .
1993.
Peter Hallinan was a famous Brisbane Art
Dealer who had collected the pieces over a
twenty-five year period, during more than
twenty visits to Papua New Guinea.
He sailed from island to island and obtained
items from many out-of -the-way places.

C No: C.1373p Acq Date: 9311
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MASSIM
Village:

paint.
heirlooms.

1993.

the-way places.

C No: C.1373q Acq Date: 9311
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MASSIM
Village:

paint.
heirlooms.

1993.

the-way places.

C No: C.1373r Acq Date: 9311
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MASSIM
Village:

paint.
heirlooms.

1993.

the-way places.

C No: C.1373s Acq Date: 9311
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MASSIM
Village:

paint.
heirlooms.

1993.

the-way places.

C No: C.1373t Acq Date: 9311
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MASSIM
Village:

paint.
heirlooms.

1993.

the-way places.

C No: C.1373u Acq Date: 9311
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MASSIM
Village:

paint.
heirlooms.

1993.

the-way places.

C No: C.1373v Acq Date: 9311
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MASSIM
Village:

paint.
heirlooms.

1993.

the-way places.

C No: C.1373w Acq Date: 9311
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MASSIM
Village:

paint.
heirlooms.

1993.

the-way places.

C No: C.1373x Acq Date: 9311
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MASSIM
Village:

paint.
heirlooms.

1993.

the-way places.

C No: C.1373y Acq Date: 9311
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MASSIM
Village:

paint.
heirlooms.

1993.

the-way places.

Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MASSIM
Village:
Description.: MORTAR & PESTLE-CANOE- SMALL

paint.
heirlooms.

1993.

the-way places.

Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MASSIM
Village:
Description.: MORTAR & PESTLE-CANOE-

LARGE
paint.
heirlooms.

1993.

the-way places.

Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

28/11/93 part lot #188.

collection.).
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

28/11/93 part lot #188.

collection.).
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

28/11/93 part lot #188.

collection.).
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

28/11/93 part lot #188.
Clapper type said to have been used in sorcery.

collection.).
No Picture 2
C No: C.1376e Acq Date: 9311
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

28/11/93 part lot #188.

collection.).
No Picture 2
C No: C.1376f Acq Date: 9311
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

28/11/93 part lot #188.

collection.).
No Picture 2
C No: C.1376g Acq Date: 9311
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

28/11/93 part lot #188.

collection.).
No Picture 2
C No: C.1376h Acq Date: 9311
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

28/11/93 part lot #188.

collection.).
No Picture 2
C No: C.1376i Acq Date: 9311
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

28/11/93 part lot #188.

collection.).
No Picture 2
C No: C.1376j Acq Date: 9311
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

28/11/93 part lot #188.

collection.).
No Picture 2
C No: C.1376k Acq Date: 9311
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

28/11/93 part lot #188.

collection.).
No Picture 2
C No: C.1376l Acq Date: 9311
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

28/11/93 part lot #188.

collection.).
No Picture 2
C No: C.1376m Acq Date: 9311
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

28/11/93 part lot #188.

collection.).
No Picture 2
C No: C.1376n Acq Date: 9311
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

28/11/93 part lot #188.

collection.).
No Picture 2
C No: C.1376o Acq Date: 9311
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

28/11/93 part lot #188.

collection.).
No Picture 2
C No: C.1376p Acq Date: 9311
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

28/11/93 part lot #188.

collection.).
No Picture 2
C No: C.1376q Acq Date: 9311
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

28/11/93 part lot #188.

collection.).
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Milne Bay
Village: Bou Village (eastern tip of Mainland)
Description.: LIME SPATULA WOOD

28/11/93 part lot #188
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: TROBRIANDS - Massim
Village:
Description.: LIME SPATULA WOOD - MASSIM

28/11/93 part lot #188
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

28/11/93 part lot #188
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

28/11/93 part lot #188
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SEPIK AREA
Village:
Description.: LIMESTICK CASSOWARY BONE

28/11/93 part lot #188.
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: NEW GUINEA
Village:

28/11/93 part lot #188.
Normally made from the bones of the

cassowary but some were made from the leg
bones of deceased relatives.

No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MASSIM
Village:
Description.: PESTLE EBONY - MASSIM

In the Trobriands pestles are called Kaimili.
They are mainly used with the mortar by people
with poor teeth to crush betel nuts. They are
also used for mixing the magical concoction
which apprentices drink to internalise master
carver knowledge and for mixing and applying
facial paint.
heirlooms.

1993.
Peter Hallinan was a famous Brisbane Art Dealer No Picture 2

the-way places.

This is has an exceptional carving depicting a

naked Massim woman on each of its four sides.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: DAGGER/GOUGE CASSOWARY

BONE SMALL
28/11/93 part lot #188
Possibly a gouge rather than a dagger. Tools
and daggers made from cassowary bones were
a recognised trade item through much, but not
all, of New Guinea.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: DAGGER/GOUGE CASSOWARY

BONE SMALL
28/11/93 part lot #188Possibly a tool or a short
dagger. Tools and daggers made from
cassowary bones were a recognised trade item
through much, but not all, of New Guinea.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Kukukuku Marawaka
Village: Marawaka
Description.: SALT BLOCK IN BINDINGS

Kukukuku
Description: Th e Marawaka Kukukuku o f the
Vailala headwaters also made plants salt
( Sinclair 1 9 6 69 ) and it is evident that the
method was widely known throughout inland
eastern New Guines.
A true high value money item. Also a rare item

in itself.
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:

SHORT WOOD HAFT
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:
Description.: ARROW METAL HEAD WOOD

SHAFT
Sydney.
The metal, whether in arrowheads or

spearheads was always a popular trade item.
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:

SHAFT
Sydney.

No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:

SHAFT
Sydney.The metal, whether in arrowheads or
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: VARAI BARI VILLAGE (Veraibari village)
Description.: ARMBAND CONESHELL
Description: Ex the Peter Hallinan collection sold

at Sotheby Sydney Sale in 1993.
It wascollected by Peter Hallinan in in Varai Bari
Village, Papuan Gulf. He was told that it was
worn on the upper arm by means of string
threaded through the holes in the corners of the
shells. Haddon states that a good armlet was
worth a wife.
Harry Beran, in his and Pam Swadling's article
"What was the function of the prehistoric Conus
armshells found in the
Massim region and in Collingwood Bay?" in
which he illustrates this item and states "these
two shells are the only examples of their type I
am aware of". Note that the two illustrations are
of this item and are not two items but two sides
of this one artefact (Hallinan's). I also have one
from Goabari Island ex Richard Aldridge.
This actual item is iIllustrated on page 20 of No Picture 2
Money Substitutes and Favoured Trade Items of
Torres Straits and Papua Gulf by Col Davidson
District: RENDOVA
Village:
Description.: DAFI PEARLSHELL CRESCENT

Honiara, Solomons.

Some have the tortoiseshell frigate bird emblem
Country: NEW GUINEA

Class #22.
Previous owner was John Lomonge of Jinjo
Village who inherited it on the death of his
father Lomonge.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NDAP YELENGWINJININDUO Class

#11
Description: Previously owned by John Lomonge
of Jinjo Village who inherited it o the death of
his father Lomonge.
Rossel
the denomination " Yelengwinjininduo ". These
the highest rarity)

Country: NEW GUINEA
Description: Previously owned by Sixtus Tom of

Abeleti Village.
Rossel
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: EAST POINT VILLAGE
Description.: NKO (KE-KAO) -DIAMUNDI-

Diamundi". These were used in Brideprice, the
Class #18.
Previous owner was Mayia Sigana of East Point
Village who inherited it from his father Sigana.
Country: NEW GUINEA

Class #22.
Previous owner was Moses Mole of Jinjo Village
who inherited it from his father Mole.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NKO (KE-KWU-KAO) -PIMBA-

Pimba". These were used in Brideprice, the
Class #14.
Previous owner was Moses Mole who inherited it
from his father Mole.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MASSIM
Village:
Description.: HAFT FOR AXE WOODEN MASSIM
Description: Used to hold the extremely

important greenstone axe heads originally
imported from Woodlark Island.
The handle is called valela vaigua
(its handle is wealth).
Illustrated in Seligmann Plate LXI.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MASSIM
Village:
Description: Used to hold the extremely

important greenstone axe heads originally
imported from Woodlark Island.
The handle is called valela vaigua
(its handle is wealth).
Illustrated in Seligmann Plate LXI.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: DANI AREA
Description.: FETISH STONE AND BAG STRING

- DANI
Description: A Fetish which possesses a gender
and spirituality
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: BEADSTRING

valued in trade.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: BEADSTRING

valued in trade.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: PAK ISLAND, ADMIRALTIES
Village:
Description.: ADZE HAFTED STEEL BLADE

Auctions, Sydney.
From the collection of Peter Hallinan with his

collection number - H1141.
An early example with a steel blade.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: PESTLE BONE
Description: Betel Pestle made of bone.
Bone pestles were usually of a higher value

than wood and this one probably comes from
the Massim area.
It is probably made of pig or human bone.
Very old and has had much use as evidenced by

the build-up of betel sediment.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

28/11/93 part lot #188.

collection.).
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

28/11/93 part lot #188.

collection.).
No Picture 2
Country: INDONESIA
District: BALI
Village:
Description.: ARMRING BRONZE ANCIENT
Related to and obtained by Scott Semans with

a hoard of Korintji Ring Money - Quiggin p266
Possibly - Bronze Age - 200BC
No Picture 2
Country: OLBIA
District:
Village:
Description.: Bronze Dolphin Coin
Description: Dolphin Coin c 5th Cent. BC -

These small copper pieces cast in the shape of a
dolphin are totally different from other Greek
coins. They are made of bronze, but the earliest
bronze Sicilian coins appeared about 100 years
later. They are cast, but older by over 200 years
than the earliest Italic and Roman cast money.
Finally, they are made in the shape of a sea
mammal, the dolphin (the Greeks considered
the dolphin to be a fish). There was no other
such money in the Greek world. Bronze dolphins
first appeared in Olbia between 550-525 B.C.
Apollo-Dolphinium had been the most important
god of the Miletian settlers, and the dolphin was
the main attribute of this god. Small, cast
dolphins at first were made as sacrificial
subjects for Apollo, but soon they became
currency, employed by the local settlers as a
primitive money, circulating in Olbia and No Picture 2
vicinity.
Country: INDIA
District:
Village:
Description.: COPPER LARIN
Description: INDIAN OCEAN, Uncertain. 16th-

18th centuries. Copper Larin imitating a Silver
Larin of the Safavid Abu'l-Muzaffar Isma'il I
(1501-1524). Pseudo-Persian inscription
stamped on either side of a copper bar
resembling a hairpin. Rare.
Also known colloquially as "hairpin money",
larins were intended for trade Indian Ocean
trade, especially Sri Lanka (Ceylon). While
some larins were struck in heavily debased
silver, this particular example has been made of
copper. With the pseudo-lettering stamped on
either side.
No Picture 2
Country: Nigeria
District: Congo
Village: Mumuye People
Description.: IRON BAR DUBIL
Description: named "dubil" and "li." This simple

design used from the 16th century. Mentioned
as a bride price item in the Madagali region.
In areas of Nigeria and central Africa unadorned
copper and iron rods, wires, bars and blades
served as currency. Instead of being valued
according to weight, these currencies were
priced by length. Bars of iron such as these
were used as currency particularly in parts of
Nigeria where blacksmiths were in need ore for
smelting.
19th - 20th century.
No Picture 2
Country: KATANGA
District: Sanga - North of Katanga
Village:
Description.: CROSSES COPPER MINI H 5mm

(2)
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.
currency (money).
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.
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: KNIFE MONEY WANG MANG "Ch'i

dao Wu-Pai
Description: Minted from 7-9Ad by Emperor
Wang Mang and worth 500 Wu Chu bronze
coins. The characters on the coin translate as
"Inscribed Knife Five Hundred". Demonetized in
9AD.
No Picture 2
Country: MALAYSIA
District:
Village:
Description.: INGOT TIN FISH
Description: The history of tin animal money

started in the days of the Malacca Empire. After
cowrie shells, some form of money had to be
used as Malacca was the trading port. The
surrounding area had abundance of tin ore
which was considered a precious metal with the
Chinese believing that tin brings luck, prosperity
and wards off evil spirits. At the entrance of
many Chinese houses, tin is used to line the
walls and columns. This is believed to bring luck
to the inhabitants of the house. Tin was chosen
as the medium as it was considered precious,
malleable & soft thus easily shaped and tin is
widely accepted. This gave birth to the "Tin
Animal Money". This form of money, made
by Chinese, comes in a few denomination, the
largest weighing 1 kati and the smallest 1/20
kati. The full denomination are 1 kati, 1/2 kati,
1/10 kati and 1/20 kati. The rarest of them are No Picture 2
the 1 and 1/2 kati. Various animal shapes have
been found. To date, four distinct animal which
is the tortoise, fish, rooster (chicken) and crab
(very rare). Each animal comes in several
designs and variants. They incorporate designs
from the Ming Dynasty, brought by the Chinese
settlers that came from China. Trade was then
effected using this form of medium of
exchange.
Country: AFRICA
District: Kusu People
Village:
Description.: COPPER BAR Called "BOLOKO" or

KONGA" or "OKANU"
Description: They were made by the Nkutshu
smiths who gave them to the Songo-Meno in
exchange for copper in its raw state. Illustrated
in outline p67 Fig 13 Quiggin's
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: IRON FANG MINIATURE AXES
Description: Illustrated p72 Fig 16 Quiggin.

Called bikei and used as Bride Price. A similar
set of axes is in the Pitt Rivers Museum.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: BAG STRING NASSA DECORATION
Description: Illustrated on front age of

November 1966 Australian Coin Worls. Ex
collection of Errol Mair.
The nassa shell was one of the main money
No Picture 2
Country: COLOMBIA
District: TAIRONA
Village:
Description.: BEADS STONE UNFINISHED (4)

valued in trade.
No Picture 2
Country: COLOMBIA
District: TAIRONA
Village:
Description.: BEAD STONE AGATE TUBE
Description: Valued item for wearing but valued

in trade.
No Picture 2
Country: COLOMBIA
District: TAIRONA
Village:
Description.: BEADS STONE AGATE DONUTS (3)

valued in trade.
No Picture 2
Country: COLOMBIA
District: SINU CULTURE
Village:
Description.: ANCIENT SHELL BEADS (3)
Description: Valued items for wearing but also

highly valued in trade.
From the Sinu Culture which existed from 200

BC to 1600 AD.
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: NEW GUINEA
Village: SEPANA VILLAGE,BRAZZA RIVER

From the Asmat people and was collected by
Todd Barlin in 1987-88 from the Brazza River
area.
It was still being used when he traded a steel

knife for the adze.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: NOMAD AREA
Village:
Description: From the Nomad area. A normal

item of all Biami warriors. These daggers had a
much more narrow and pointed end than the
rest of New Guinea. The Biami were cannibals -
refer book "Cannibal" by JL Anderson and his
photgraph on page 108, of the book, showing a
similar dagger.
Country: CONGO
District:
Village: Boa People
Description.: KNIFE STEEL BLADE (SMALL)
Description: A currency blade also valued by the

nearby Azande people.
No Picture 2
Country: Congo
District:
Village: Boa/Azande People
Description.: KNIFE STEEL BLADE (LONG)
Description: Currency blade of the Azande.

These people call themselves Azande but
outsiders call them Zande and, in the past,
foreigners frequently called them Niam-Niam.
The name Niam-Niam is of Dinka origin, and
means 'great eaters' in that language. However
the well known author, and recognised expert
on 19th Century Africa, Chris Peers, states that
'Niam-niam' was a name derived from their
cannibal war cry 'Niama! Niama!' which
translates as 'meat, meat' or 'food, food'.Carlo
Piaggia, an Italian stayed near the country of
the Niam-Niam for about a year in 1863-4 and
in 1863 he journeyed into Azande territory and
witnessed an instance of cannibalism.
Schweinfurth was the first European to obtain
full information about cannibalism among the
Azande. When in the territory of the man-eaters
at its south-eastern extremity, in the region of
the Nile-Congo watershed, he noticed many
instances of the practice and the Azande
themselves made no secret of their use of
human flesh as nutriment. They spoke freely on
the subject: any person who died without
relatives was sure to be devoured in the very
district in which he had lived; and in times of
war, any member of a conquered tribe was
regarded as suitable for eating.
Of the various fatty substances employed for
cooking, the one in most frequent use was
human fat.
Country: CONGO
District:
Village: Azande People
Description.: KNIFE STEEL BLADE SABRE
Description: Currency blade of the Azande.

These people call themselves Azande but
outsiders call them Zande and, in the past,
foreigners frequently called them Niam-Niam.
The name Niam-Niam is of Dinka origin, and
means "great eaters" in that language. However
the well known author, and recognised expert
on 19th Century Africa, Chris Peers, states that
Niam-niam was a name derived from their
cannibal war cry Niama! Niama! which
translates as meat, meat or food, food.Carlo
Piaggia, an Italian stayed near the country of
the Niam-Niam for about a year in 1863-4 and
in 1863 he journeyed into Azande territory and
witnessed an instance of cannibalism.
Schweinfurth was the first European to obtain
full information about cannibalism among the
Azande. When in the territory of the man-eaters
at its south-eastern extremity, in the region of
the Nile-Congo watershed, he noticed many
instances of the practice and the Azande
themselves made no secret of their use of
human flesh as nutriment. They spoke freely on
the subject: any person who died without
relatives was sure to be devoured in the very
district in which he had lived; and in times of
war, any member of a conquered tribe was
regarded as suitable for eating.
Of the various fatty substances employed for
cooking, the one in most frequent use was
human fat.
Country: ZAIRE
District:
Village: Momvu People
Description.: KNIFE STEEL BLADE (CULT)
Description: A valued item of exchange.

Quiggin, on Plate 1 #17, shows a similar that
she says (p71) from the Bayanzi people
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description: An important and valued item used

in the Kula Trade Cycle as a trade item and for
important gifts.
No Picture 2
Country: BURMA
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE METAL DISCS AND

BELLS
Description: A necklace of old brass beads and
small bells. A decorative and wearable
money/trade item.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: HEADBAND NASSA SHELL ON

BARK
Description: An important wearable
trade/money item of the area.
A standard item of value and payment in the Te
Exchange Ceremony.
The nassa shell was also one of the main money
No Picture 2
Country: HAWAII
District:
Village:

Auctions, Sydney.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NKO (KE-KAO) -TEJUMA-

Tejuma". These were used in Brideprice, the
Class #19.
Previous owner was a female called Tomonga
Sigana of Jinjo Village who inherited it on the
death of her father Sigana. Originally owned by
a man named Dawe who used it to pay for a
taro garden that he purchased from Sigana.
Country: NEW GUINEA

CALLED -WOLWOL
Description: The previous owner was Robert
Pindi of Abeleti Village.

money item.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA

valuable.
Called Ngwe.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NDAP TANGWOLONDUO Class #12
Description: Previously owned by John Mebe of

Jinjo Village who inherited it on the death of his
father.
Rossel
the denomination " Tangwolonduo". These were
rarity)
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NKO (KE-KAO) -TANGWOLONDUO-

Tangwolonduo". These were used in Brideprice,
Class #12.
Previous owner was John Mebe of Jinjo Village
who inherited it on the death of his father.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: COPPER SHEET FROM ST. PAUL
Description: Previously owned by Robert Pindi

of Abeleti Village. It was taken from the St Paul
which was wrecked on the reef close to
Chinamen Island near Jinjo Village. The ship
was wrecked there many years ago. Obtained
by diving to the wreck.
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: KNIFE MONEY LARGE
Description: Information ex British Museum

From Qi state (Shandong province), north-
eastern China Eastern Zhou dynasty, During the
fourth and third centuries BC, a distinctive type
of money was issued in the Qi state, in the form
of large knives. The knife money was associated
with particular cities within the state, and the
knives are almost always found in modern-day
Shandong province. The inscriptions on some of
the knives indicate that they were sometimes
issued in commemoration of important events,
such as the inauguration of a new ruling
dynasty. The inscription on this knife money
indicates that it is ''''legal currency of Qi''''.
Knife money has its origins in the scraper-
knives of nomadic hunters and fishermen of
northern and eastern China. By the sixth and
fifth centuries BC the northern and eastern
states of Yan, Qi, Zhongshan and Zhao were No Picture 2
using knife money with inscriptions. The
inscriptions were usually numerals or single
words such as ''''fish'''' and ''''sheep'''', perhaps
indicating value. The pointed blades on the
early knives break very easily. Later knife
money of the Qi state - like this example - is
usually more rounded or thicker,
and therefore less fragile.
500BC (?). In most early references they are
described as the earliest knife form, going back
to before 600 BC. Hartill''s book (Cast Chinese
Coins) dates them to between 400 and 220 BC,.
Obverse: Three characters reading ''CH''I FA
HUO''.
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: HOE IRON SAKANIA CEREMONIAL
Description: 'Iron Money - Current among the

Sara Tribe of Chad Colony. They occupy,
roughly, an area bounded onthe N. by a line
from Lake Iro to about 9 N 17E, S the Rivers
Nana Baria, Sido and Aouk, E. a line southwards
from Lake Iro to the Aouk, and W. about 17 E.
The money is also called 'Kokey' of two sizes.
Refer illustration p95 Fig 30 Quiggin's
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District: Gworzo (northeast region)
Village:
Description.: HOE IRON PURR-PURR

CEREMONIAL
Description: Gworzo (northeast region), 18-
19th c., iron purrpurr, imitation trowel,
Used as late as the 1930s and finally valued at
threepence. Opitz p 273
No Picture 2
Country: Western Niger
District: Djerma People
Village:
Description.: ARMRING COPPER LARGE ORNATE
Description: Called Keguru and mondua
Beautifully worked designs in the copper.

Monetary Bracelet
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: BEADS BRASS W/LOOP MUNSHI
Description: Described as a currency by

Quiggin.
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: INDIA
District:
Village:
Description.: INGOT SILVER BAR
Description: These coins from Gandhara

Janapada are considered one of the earliest, if
not THE earliest, coins of India. It is difficult to
pinpoint with certainity the actual Janapada,
Dynasty or King that issued coins first in India
or the time period as much of the ancient
history is obscured in the mists of time. These
coins, found in Gandhara of which Taxila was
the capital, are also termed as 'Bent Bars' or
'Double Sigloi'. Gandhara was listed as one of
the sixteen mahajanapadas in the Buddhist text
Anguttara Nikaya.
The rock inscriptions of Darius "The Great" (540

BC) indicate Gandhara as the 20th and richest
satrapy of the Persian Empire. The peculiar
"bent bar" silver coins found in Gandhara with a
prominent solar symbol punched on extreme
ends of the bar are so radically different from No Picture 2
the silver 'sigloi' coins of the Persian Empire
featuring the King (or an archer) as
sitting/kneeling that it is now commonly
accepted that such a radically different coinage
in the shape and form of the bent bar would not
have been introduced by the Persians for a
particular region alone (Gandhara) but that it
points to a much earlier existence of the coin
type which, for purposes of trade and continuity
of tradition, was continued by the Persians. The
coins, based on the date of Darius rock
inscriptions, are therefore attributed to 600 BC
although their origin may have been earlier.
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: BAMBOO MONEY
Tally sticks of bamboo were issued in China in

the second half of the 19th century and again
during and after the two world wars. The
Chinese called these bamboo tallies dai yong bi,
which means something like "transitional
currency." Dai yong bi were a form of
emergency money, mainly issued by banks, but
also by companies and customs authorities.
They were carved or inked, or inscriptions were
burned into them, indicating the issuer, the
date, the value and so on. They had face values
between 1 and 1,000 cash. Most of the bamboo
tallies were lacquered and punched, in order to
string them as the Chinese did with their cash
coins as well.
Obverse (side shown in picture) translates as
"wen shi" (cash ten), "chuang" (string), No Picture 2
"chien' (money), "liang" (two), "bai" (hundred),
"wen" (cash). The meaning of the inscription is
that this token is equivalent to a string of 20
Ten Cash coins.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NDAP WUOBA Class #6
Description: Previous owner was the family of

Jerome Kaiyobu of Njaru Village and was paid to
them by the family of Tadia Tebi of Mala Village
at the ceremonial purchase of a huge pig which
was subsequently eaten at a feast.
Rossel
the denomination " Wuoba ". These were made

Country: CONGO
District:
Village: Boa People
Description.: KNIFE STEEL BLADE (SMALL WITH

MANILLA DECORATIONS)
Description: Very unusual.
It has a number of depictions of manillas etched
into the blade. Possibly for ju-ju purposes or as
a mark of monetary value?
Probably a ceremonial knife with special
qualities from the inscribed manillas.
A currency blade.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NDAP WUOBA Class #6
Description: Previously owned by Cathy Tom of

Abeleti Village.
Rossel
the denomination " Wuoba ". These were made
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: PATA VILLAGE
Description.: NDAP KECHEM Class #3
Description: Previously owned by Yamna

Jumlum of Pata Village who obtained it for the
payment of the house from his father Jumlum
of Jela River Side Village of Njaru Ward.
Rossel
the denomination "Kechem". These were made

Moneys. Important
and extremely rare item.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: NAIL COPPER EX THE SAINT PAUL
Description: Refer to The Saga of the St Paul by

Col Davidson. This is an actual ship's nail from
the wreck. Copper nails such as this were a true
trade money of much of the Pacific.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING CLAMSHELL
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
Village:
Description: This money shellring from the

Sepik area appears to be a copy in cous shell of
the highly valuable Dubalin.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING CLAMSHELL -called

Greg- or Dubalin (Hornbill)
Description: High vaue money ring.
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
Village: KIKORI
Description.: SKULL TROPHY HUMAN
Description: Ex Max Wilcox of Melbourne.

Obtained in mid-1954 when he was in
Administration, Public Service Commission
(Personnel), Port Moresby, PNG.
Given to him by a (Mr?) Howard? A Radio

Technician on the official punitive expedition to
the Kikori region.
Heads were of immense importance, both

socially and religiously and in trade, the head of
a woman or child being equal in value to that of
a man. It seems that when the head was taken,
the flesh was eaten and the skull kept and used
for ancestor worship, forecasting the future,
prestige and status. They were the main
payment by the Torres Straits Islanders for the
Fly River canoes (skull=canoe, lower jaw=small
canoe). H M Dauncey, a missionary of Delena, No Picture 2
present in the punitive raid after Chalmers
death, counted over 700 skulls in one Dobu
house and estimated 10,000 skulls in the
twenty Dobu Houses burnt.
Country: AUSTRALIA
District:
Village:
Description.: MUSKET FLINT
Description: Excavated at the site of the Military

Garrison, corner of Blues Point Road and
Mitchell Street, North Sydney.
Although not an item of trade in Australia flints
such as this were used as a trade item in
Colonial America.
Exactly the same as held by the National
Museum of Australia, Canberra in Josef Lebovic
Gallery Collection no 1 - Ref #
1986.0117..4410
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village: MASAI
Description.: SPEARHEAD IRON MASAI

Sydney.
Iron was money in many parts of Africa (see

Quiggin) and spearheds were particularly valued
as a monetary weapon.
men''s right of passage in killing a lion.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Trobriands
Village:
Description.: CONUS SHELL
Description: A plain raw conus shell prior to

working into money armrings, etc.
No Picture 2
Country: Brazil N.West/ Columbia South
District: AMAZON
Village: MAKU and YAGUA PEOPLE,
Description.: BLOWPIPE, DARTS, QUIVER,

FEATHERS
Description: The blowpipe is from the Yagua
people and the dart quiver was made by the
Maku. They were collected together and so the
blowpipe would have been traded to the Maku
by their neighbours the Yagua.
Yagua blowpipes were traded over thousands of
kilometres to the Andean foothills and the
Ucayali region. In the other direction (north-
east) blowpipes travelled a long way up to the
Guianas
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING CLAMSHELL
Description: This is the standard money

shellstring of the Solomons.
No Picture 2
Country: Marshall Islands
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE SHARKTEETH ON

FIBRE
Description: See Quiggins page126 where she
states ,regarding Melanesia and the Pacific, that
"Porpoise, cuscus, bat and fish teeth are often
bound on to cord,
projecting at intervals, and such bands may be
ornaments or currency".
Also see page 128 and page 129.
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: PU MONEY WANG MANG 1000
Description: Pu Money of Ancient China.

The characters show that it was worth 1000
cash.
Minted under the emperor Wang Mang of the
Xian Dynasty 9-23 AD..
No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
District:
Village:
Description.: CIGARETTES IN PACKET
Description: Wartime Era

After World War II cigarettes were monetised in
much of Europe. They possessed many of the
characteristics of currency. They were easily
recognisable, practically homogeneous, fairly
durable, divisible, readily transportable and
hard to counterfeit. In 1947, 25 cartons would
purchase a Leica camera in Germany, and in
Vienna, apartments could be rented for two
packs a month. In Hamburg, police offered a
1000 cigarette reward for information leading to
the arrest of a suspected murderer.
No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
District:
Village:
Description.: CIGARETTES IN PACKET
Description: Wartime Era

After World War II cigarettes were monetised in
much of Europe. They possessed many of the
characteristics of currency. They were easily
recognisable, practically homogeneous, fairly
durable, divisible, readily transportable and
hard to counterfeit. In 1947, 25 cartons would
purchase a Leica camera in Germany, and in
Vienna, apartments could be rented for two
packs a month. In Hamburg, police offered a
1000 cigarette reward for information leading to
the arrest of a suspected murderer.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: STONE PESTLE -MPUEMA- OR -

MBIMA-
Description: Previous owner was Kennis
Kwamba of Jinjo Village.
Called Mpuema.
Used in the olden days but was used by Kennis

Kwamba simply on a flat piece of stone or
wood. It was also used in rain making and was
regarded as being a gift from the magic people
of Rossel Island.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: SANDALWOOD PIECES (2) -

CALLED OME OR KYMAE
Description: Previously owned by Jerome
Kaiyobu of Rossel.
On Rossel the bark called Ome or Kymae and is
used for magical purposes and they also chew
it. It is also exportrd to Sudest.
Visitors from Sudest might be given pieces of
sandalwood bark which is valued as a powerful
magical item and for medicinal purposes.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: AXEBLADE STONE MASSIM SMALL

_ VAPATU.
Beku in the Trobriands and Mbu Op Butu
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: AXEBLADE STONE MASSIM SMALL

_ VAPATU.
Beku in the Trobriands and Vapatu in Rossel.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: CASSOWARY FEATHER ORNAMENT

Museums.
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: COWRIE IMITATION GOLD PLATED

BRONZE
No Picture 2
Country: CAMEROON
District:
Village: MATAKAM PEOPLE
Description.: THROWING KNIFE STEEL CALLED

"SENGESE"
Description: Called Sengese.
A beautiful example of a throwing knife which

was used as currency by the Matakam people.
The handles are tightly wrapped in a raffia-like
material.
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.
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District: Ngelima People of the lower Ituri and
the Mbole People of the Lomami
Village:
Description.: COPPER BAR OF 2+KG
Description: Used by the Ngelima of the lower

Ituri and the Mbole of the Lomami, and peoples
in between (Zaire).
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: RAFFIA CLOTH
Description: Kuba Cloth (Mbal or Madiba) from

the Lele tribe of the Congo, Kuba Kingdom,
Sundstrom reports the use of Kuba cloth for
everyday local purchases, major purchases such
as slaves, cattle or ivory, loans, tolls, and for
destruction at funerals as "conspicuous
consumption." Opitz p.109-111 shows many
examples of larger cloths made from original
units, and discusses specific uses. Squares of
cloth woven from raffia palm leaf fibres, they
were called mbal. Today these former monetary
units are found sewn into larger compositions
and decorated. The decorations (raised plush,
sewn-on angular patches, eyelets, etc.) were
originally added to hide fraying or holes, but
soon evolved into meaningful symbols. Each
culture group within the Kuba region had its
own style and pattern of decoration.
No Picture 2
Country: KATANGA
District: Ingombe Ilede / Chedzurgwe
Village:
Description.: CROSS COPPER LARGER H

100mm
Description: Ingombe Ilede / Chedzurgwe
culture
A true money.
currency (money).
all over central Africa. They have been found in
Zimbabwe, for instance, and across both
Tanzania and Angola to the Indian and Atlantic No Picture 2
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.
Country: KATANGA
Village:
Description.: CROSS COPPER MINI H 27mm

currency (money).
wealth and power.
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: BURIAL IMITATION COIN CLAY
Description: Buried with the body to provide

money in the next life.
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District: LAKE TUMBA
Village:
Description: Monetary Bracelet. Used by tribes

along the River Itimbiri
No Picture 2
Country: ETHIOPA
District:
Village:
Description.: CARTRIDGE
Description: A true money - refer to Quiggins

pages 106-107.
No Picture 2
District: FLORIDA Nggela Islands
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING -MALONA-

Honiara, Solomons.

money from Nggela. It is called Malona.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: MAGIC STONE WHITE NGEME

Kaiyobu .
The stone was used for rain and thunder
making. When used for rain making the thunder
sound would be loud and frightening to children.
The people prayed to the stone for it will bring
them rain.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: AXEBLADE STONE MASSIM LARGE

-VAPATU.
Description: These is a larger and important
green stone axeblades fom Woodlark Island and
an important item in the Kula Trade Cycle.
Called Beku in the Trobriands and Vapatu in
Rossel.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: WOKEA VILLAGE
Description: Previously owned by Samson John

of Wokea Village who obtained it as part of the
Bride Price at the marriage of his daughter
Jopewo Samson to Dou Gawo of Peme Village.
Rossel
Moneys.

Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: PUM VILLAGE
Description: Previous owner was Gada Muo of

Pum Village who received it from his aunt Neme
Tuda.
Rossel
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING WHITE CONUS

1460MM X 4MM
Description: Part of Lot 104 Sothebys. Stated in
catalogue as "...were obtained from the Tyrell's
Curio shop on Castlereagh Street, Sydney
around 1930. Many of these fine objects were
collected by Tyrell's just after World War I"
"From the collection of the late Clive
Thompson1915-88. He lived in Victoria until
WWII when he served the Military in New
Guinea. On returning to Australia he worked in
the remote goldmines of Western Australia.
This is a money shell string of tiny coneshell

discs. This is unusual as most shellstrings from
the Solomons are made of solid flattened shell
discs.
It is over 100 years old.

Country: GILBERT ISLANDS
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING -TEKARORO-

900MM X 6MM
Refer Quiggins p140, Fig 52.
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.
This is over 100 years old.

Country: NEW GUINEA
District: ADMIRALTIES
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING WHITE 850MM X

3MM
This is a standard money shellstring from the

Admiralties. It has small diameter shell beads
and a few red trade beads.
Shellstring from this area is scarce in

collections.
Over 100 years old.

Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

4MM
catalogue as "...were obtained from the Tyrell''s
collected by Tyrell''s just after World War I"
This is a standard money shellstring from the

Admiralties.
Shellstring from this area is scarce in

collections.
Over 100 years old.

District:
Village:

3MM (4)
This is a quality four string shell valuable. The

white shell discs are small in diameter and are
interspersed with coconut shell beads. A broken
shell is tied to the string as a pendant and,
instead of having the usual tortoiseshell
dividers, it has three ancient, European
corroded metal buttons.

Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: ARMBAND SHELLDISCS/GLASS

BEADS
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: BELT GLASS BEADS

Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Huon Gulf/East New Britain
Village:
Description.: ARMBAND TORTOISESHELL
Description: Called Navoi.
Part of Lot 105 Sothebys. Stated in catalogue as

"...were obtained from the Tyrell''s Curio shop
on Castlereagh Street, Sydney around 1930.
Many of these fine objects were collected by
Tyrell''s just after World War I"
A highly sought after valuable. It is called a

Navoi.
Over 100 years old.

Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SEPIK
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING CALLED Iwan ON

WOVEN ARMBAND CLAMSHELL
Description: Part of Lot 105 of Sothebys sydney
auction. Stated in catalogue as "...were
obtained from the Tyrell's Curio shop on
Castlereagh Street, Sydney around 1930. Many
of these fine objects were collected by Tyrell's
just after World War I"
Although noted on the original descriptive

docket attached to the armring as Solomom
Islands, this item is from the Sepik area.
Almost 100 years old.
Called Iwan.

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.
Country: PACIFIC
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING BLACK

SNAILSHELL/COIX SEED 900MM
A string of black snail-like shells with Jobs Tears

as spacers.
Over 100 years old.
Unidentified.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING NASSA 1250MM

Refer Quiggins p173, Fig 69
The nassa shell was also one of the main money

Over 100 years old.

Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Southern Highlands
Village: Mendi Area
Description.: PENDANT CONUS DIBIDIBI (PAIR)
Description: These are two of the highly valued

Dibi Dibi which have been imported from the
Torres Strait area.
Their value each in the upper Wahgi Valley in
the early 1940s was half of a grown pig.
A true monetary trade item.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: Mendi Area
Description.: PENDANT CONUS DIBIDIBI
Description: This is a highly valued Dibi Dibi

which has been imported from the Torres Strait
area.
Their value in the uppe r Wahgi Valley in the
early 1940s was half of a grown pig.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: Mendi area

area.
Their value in the upper Wahgi Valley in the
The added cowries add to its value.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: Mendi Area

area.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: Mendi Area

area.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District: KAREN
Village:
Description.: PIPE
Description: ne of a pair.
Not a monetary item but used as part of the

Karen Wedding ceremony where one is
presented to the groom and the other to the
bride.
No Picture 2
Country: SIAM
District: KAREN
Village:
Description.: PIPE
Description: One of a pair.
Not a monetary item but used as part of the

Karen Wedding ceremony where one is
presented to the groom and the other to the
bride.
No Picture 2
District: SANTA ISABEL
Village:

Rade) CARVED BIRD
Honiara, Solomons.
Called Rade.
An important and scarce money shellring, made

of clamshell and which shows a bird form on its
edge.
Shell armrings were mentioned by the Spanish

explorer in 1568 when he visited this island,
Santa Isabel. He obtained a shell armring from
a chief of the island.
No Picture 2
Country: JAPAN
District:
Village:
Description.: COIN RECTANGULAR GOLD Nissho

Kin Ansei Period 1832-58
Description: Coin of Japan.
No Picture 2
Country: GHANA
District: ASHANTI PEOPLE
Village:
Description.: WEIGHT ASHANTI BRASS

Sydney.
A very old gold weight of the Ashanti people. It

is in the shape of a human figure.
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:

Sydney.


No Picture 2
Country: GHANA
Village:

Sydney.


No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MASSIM
Village:
Description: Also called a Garden magician''''s

axe and associated with rituals associated with
garden magic. Similar to photograph on page
76 of The Kula A Bronislaw Malinowski
Centennial Exhibition Robert H Lowie Museum of
Anthropology California 1985.
Used to hold the extremely important
greenstone axe heads originally imported from
Woodlark Island.
The handle is called taramasima (we went to
Misima.)
Illustrated in Seligmann Plate LXII
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: WALRUS TOOTH
Description: Unidentified - Walrus Tooth (?)
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA

coin, with others, in payment of a pig sold to
the family of John Tebi of Ngowangoko Village
on 16/4/95.
Rossel

these are the most important
of Pacific Primitive Moneys. An important and
Country: NEW GUINEA

on 16/4/95.
Rossel

Country: NEW GUINEA

on 16/4/95.
Rossel

Country: NEW GUINEA

coin , with others, in payment of a pig sold to
on 16/04/95.
Rossel

Country: NEW GUINEA
Description: Previously owned by Jerome

Kaiyobu of Jinjo Village who received it, with
others, in payment of a pig sold to the family
John Tebi of Ngowangoko Village on 16/04/95.
Rossel

Moneys. Important

Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: PEARLSHELL KNIFE -KEME-
Description: Previousl owner was Cathy Tom of

Abeleti Village. The shell comes from a reef
around the island and it is used as a hand
scraper for coconut, for use as a spoon and as a
minor valuable.
Called Keme or Kuma.
On Sudest Island there is a custom called Buwa
where, the first time a man or boy is discovered
to have spent the night with a girl, the girl's
family presents him with a basket of gifts
(which often includes a pearlshell knife). He
does not keep this gift but must add the
equivalent to the basket and return it to the
girl's family. A somewhat similar custom is seen
on Rossel Island.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: VIKWO VILLAGE
Description.: MAGIC SHELL ROUND WALACHEW
Description: Called Walachew.

Previous owner was Waibuva Tepa of Vikwo
Village on the South coast of Rossel. These
shells were traded between clans in ancient
times and used by taro growers by burning it in
their garden - the smell given off helps in the
gowth of the taro plants.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NDAP YENANINDO Class #15

coin as a gift from his grandfather Tepa
Dobugodes.
Rossel
the denomination " Yenanindo ". These were
rarity)
Country: NEW GUINEA

Rossel
Moneys.

Country: NEW GUINEA

coin, with others, in payment at a bride price
relation of kaiyobu) and the groom was Paul
Peter.
Rossel
about 49 of this denomination to be in No Picture 2

Country: NEW GUINEA

coin, with others, in payment at a Bride Price
relation to Kaiyobu) and the groom was Paul
Peter and the bride price feast was held at Jinjo
Village.
Rossel
items
five pages to them. It is probable that, after the
Yap Stone Money, these are the most important
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NKO (KE-KAO) -YENANINDO-

Yenanindo". These were used in Brideprice, the
Armstrong estimates about 800 in total of Nko
coins split between 16 different denominations.
This makes any Nko an item of the highest
rarity. Opitz allocates a full page to Ndap and
Nko and in-depth articles have been printed in
the Eucoprimo and TMA Journals. Quiggins
allocates three pages and Armstrong gives
after the Yap Stone Money, these are the most No Picture 2
important and extremely rare item. Class #15.
Previous owner was Jerome Kaiyobu of Jinjo
Village who received it as a payment from
Patrick Bwadua of Dabe Vilage in the Njaru area
at a pig feast. The past owners were his
generations of relations.
Country: NEW GUINEA

coin, with others, in payment at a pig feast and
was paid it by Peter Tepa and his wife Canmerl
Marge.
Rossel
Moneys.

Country: NEW GUINEA

coin, with others, in payment at a Pig Feast and
Marge.
Rossel
Moneys.

Country: NEW GUINEA

coin, with others, in payment at a Pig Feast and
Marge.
Rossel

Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
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 Gulf/Torres Strait region
No Picture 2
Country: INDONESIA
District: FLORES ISLAND
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE EGG COWRIE

SHELLS/SHELL DISCS/PENDANTS
Description: A wearable value/trade item. The
ovula cowry was highly valued.
No Picture 2
Country: INDIA
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE AGATE AND BONE

BEADS
Description: Valued items for wearing and
valued in trade.
No Picture 2
Country: GHANA
Village:
Description.: PENDANT ASHANTI BRASS
Description: This very old bras pendant was

made from brass using the lost wax method.
The figure on the coiled base is a tortoise.
These castings often show figures relating to a
story or parable.
Probably a charm or fetish and a trade valuable
because of this and also becaues of the metal
content.
No Picture 2
Country: GHANA
Village:
Description: This very old brass pendant was

The figure on the coiled base is a kneeling man
with upraised arms. These castings often show
figures relating to a story or parable.
content.
No Picture 2
Country: GHANA
Village:
Description: This very old bras pendant was

The three figures on the coiled base are frog,
scorpion and lizard. These castings often show
figures relating to a story or parable.
content.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: HIGHLANDS
Village:

Auctions, Sydney.
No Picture 2
Country: ZAIRE
District:
Village: YAKA PEOPLE
Description.: KNIFE STEEL SWORD
Description: Ex Sothebys. Ex. Alan D.

Christensen Fund Collection. Christensen was
an American mining engineer who founded
Texada Mines in Carnarvon West. Australia. In
the 1950's and established the "Christensen
Fund" a private foundation that supported
scientific research in Papua New Guinea.
Through 1950s he acquired a significant
collection of quality Oceanic and African art and
was instrumental in helping museums enhance
their collections. On his death the Fund shifted
its focus and sold some of its collection.
Sothebys Ref #304, Christensen Fund Ref
#CC40494. Acquired from Alex Bortignon who
obtained it from Hales (arms dealer) London.
Also, advice by Todd Barlin (who managed the
Sotheby sale) that this sword was owned by -
Yakubu of Bauchi and of considerable
historical importance. Before the Fulani Islamic No Picture 2
jihad the Bauchi region was inhabited by a large
number of small tribes, some of whom spoke
languages related to Hausa, and some of whom
were Muslims. The province of Bauchi was
conquered between 1809 and 1818 by Fula
warriors led by Yakubu a Muslim General and
son of a local Muslim ruler.
The emirate remained under Fula rule until

1902 when a British expedition occupied the
capital without fighting. The British abolished
the slave trade, which had flourished until then,
and appointed a new emir, who died a few
months later. In 1904 the emir who had
succeeded took the oath of allegiance to the
Country: CAMEROON
District:
Village: BENGE PEOPLE
Description.: KNIFE
Description: Currency Blade. Sothebys

Ex. Alan D. Christensen Fund Collection. The
late Mr. Christensen, 1907-1989, was an
American mining engineer who founded Texada
Mines in Camarvon West. Australia. In the
1950''s he established the "Christensen Fund" a
private foundation that supported scientific
research in Papua New Guinea. Through out the
1950''s he acquired a significant collection of
quality Oceanic and African art and was
instrumental in helping museums enhance their
collections. . On his death the Fund shifted its
focus and sold some of its collection.
SOTHEBY'S REF #307, CHRISTENSEN FUND
REF #CC40514. ACQUIRED FROM Alex
Bortignon WHO OBTAINED FROM HALES (ARMS
DEALER) LONDON.
No Picture 2
Country: ZAIRE
District:
Village: ABARAMBO PEOPLE
Description.: KNIFE

1950''''s he established the "Christensen Fund"
a private foundation that supported scientific
1950''''s he acquired a significant collection of
collections.. On his death the Fund shifted its
Bortignon WHO OBTAINED IT FROM HALES
(ARMS DEALER) LONDON.
No Picture 2
Country: ZAIRE
District:
Village: MANGBETU PEOPLE
Description.: KNIFE - CALLED "TROMBASH"
Description: CONGO, MANGETU-BUSHONGO, 18

-19th c., iron trombash knife. Sothebys. Ex Alan
D. Christensen Fund Collection. The late Mr.
Christensen, 1907-1989, was an American
mining engineer who founded Texada Mines in
Camarvon West. Australia. In the 1950s he
established the "Christensen Fund" a private
foundation that supported scientific research in
Papua New Guinea. Throughout the 1950s he
acquired a significant collection of quality
Oceanic and African art and was instrumental in
helping museums enhance their collections. .
On his death the Fund shifted its focus and sold
some of its collection. Sothebys Ref #309,
Christensen Fund Ref #CC40508. Acquired from
Alex Bortignon who obtained it from Hales (an
arms dealer) London.
The Mangbetu practiced polygamy and were
associated with cannibalism. No Picture 2
These knives were originally used as weapons
of war and agricultural implements. They later
developed into luxury items to provide symbols
of status and as a form of currency..
The circular holes in the blades of these knives
were once believed to indicate the number of
wives the owner had-in this case, just two.
Country: SUDAN (ZAIRE?)
District:
Description.: KNIFE WITH IVORY HANDLE
Description: Purchased Sotheby Sydney ref

#309, Christensen Fund ref #CC40528.
Originally acquired from Alex Bortignon who
obtained it from Hales (an arms dealer) London.
The ivory handle denotes its high value as does
its quality steel blade - possibly coming from
Arab traders. No Picture 2
Country: ZAIRE
District:
Description.: KNIFE

REF #CC40498.
No Picture 2
Country: ANGOLA/ZAIRE
District:
Village: KUSU (TETELA) PEOPLE
Description.: KNIFE

1950''s he established the "Christensen Fund" a
private foundation that supported scientific
1950''s he acquired a significant collection of
Bortignon WHO OBTAINED IT FROM HALES
(ARMS DEALER) LONDON.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Sudest - Massim
Village:
Description.: LIME SPATULA TORTOISESHELL

called "Ghena"
Description: This Ghena was used by the
daughters of a chief as a lime spatula and as a
status symbol (worn in an armband). It is
almost identical to the other spatulas
tortoiseshell, but have no holes drilled at the
top.
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 GSFA) in the language Sudest (gobayla
in the language of Calvados) or tortoise (Ghena
wanamo).
On the islands southeast and Calvados custom
holidays are the most important social event. No Picture 2
The parties may request more than five years of
preparation and they are organized by the
family of a deceased person. Sudest of a funeral
feast can last a week. The widow and her family
are shown with stone axes and shell money
called Ghena Daveri and 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 ax blades and
Country: NEW GUINEA/AUSTRALIA
District: TORRES STRAITS
Village:
Description.: PENDANT CONUS CALLED -O-
Description: Ex Hartmann Collection collected in

1885. The item is from the original expeditions
of Carl Hartmann, explorer, botanist and
collector. A native of Leipzig he came to
Australia shortly after qualifying as a
professional botanist. In 1861 he established a
nursery on the Parramatta River which was not
successful. He began exploring for gold to
supplement his earnings and with the profits
from the gold he found he was able to dedicate
more of his time to botany. In Toowoomba,
Queensland he established another nursery. In
1885 he heard a speech by American Professor
William Denton and decided to go to New
Guinea and explore the rich flora and fauna with
his son. He explored the Fly River area and the
Gulf of Carpentaria. His success on that visit led
the British Acting High Commissioner to offer
him a second trip in an official capacity. In 1887 No Picture 2
Hartmann went back to New Guinea to establish
domesticated plants and animals for the settled
British areas of New Guinea as well as act as a
diplomat to help settle a dispute between the
Rerapuna and Aroma tribes. He penetrated the
more remote regions of New Guinea but, when
he returned to Brisbane he fell ill and died of
malaria.
His collection of New Guinea artefacts and art

was passed on to his nephew John Oswald
Hartmann, curator of the Hartmann Museum.
Village:
Description.: PEARLSHELL CRESCENT SMALL

THICK HOLED
Description: Ex Hartmann Collection collected
in 1885. The item is from the original
expeditions of Carl Hartmann, explorer, botanist
and collector. A native of Leipzig he came to
malaria.
Most of the contents of the collection were then
passed on to the Lake Placid Resort, Cairns
upon his retirement. The late Mr. Anthony
Harper acquired the resort in the late 1970s and
Village:

THICK
Description: Ex Hartmann Collection collected
in 1885. The item is from the original
expeditions of Carl Hartmann, explorer, botanist
and collector. A native of Leipzig he came to
malaria.
Village:

THICK
Description: Ex Hartmann Collection collected in
1885. The item is from the original expeditions
of Carl Hartmann, explorer, botanist and
collector. A native of Leipzig he came to
malaria.
Country: AUSTRALIA
Village:
Description.: AXEBLADE STONE BLANK

Sydney.
Axe stone was a more utilitarian item that was

traded great distances. In south eastern
Australia axes have been shown by the doyen of
axe trade studies, Isabel McBryde, to have been
traded 600 to 700 kilometres from their source,
and some even as far as 800 kilometres. ..
Work at the quarry would have consisted of the
stone being extracted and roughly trimmed into
'blanks', pieces of a convenient size and shape
for making into axes. The final trimming of the
axe and the grinding of the blade would have
been done elsewhere.... The 'rate of exchange'
is unknown, except that in the 1840s the donor
of one possum skin rug received three axe
blanks. Since it would take much longer to
make a possum skin rug, which involved No Picture 2
obtaining, preparing and sewing together as
many as seventy skins, than the two hours or
so of work to turn an axe blank into the finished
tool, this indicates the high value placed on axe
stone.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SEPIK
Village:

valued in the Papuan Gulv/Torres Strait region.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SEPIK
Village:
Description: Normally made from the bones of

the cassowary but some were made from the
leg bones of deceased relatives.

No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: D'ENTRECASTEAUX ISLANDS - Massim
Village:
Description.: AXEBLADE STONE CALLED BEKU

OR BENAM MASSIM SMALL
Description: Ex Harry Beran Collection.
Originally collected by Reverend Harry Robinson
in the1930s-1940s in the D'Entrecasteaux.
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
Village:


important.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:


important.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: MAGIC STONE USED IN GARDEN

MAGIC - MASSIM
Description: Used for Garden magic.
It comes from the collection of Harry Beran and

was originally collected by the Reverend Harry
Robinson in the 1930-1940s from the
D''Entrecateaux Islands.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: MAGIC STONE USED IN GARDEN

MAGIC - MASSIM
Description: Used for Garden magic.
It comes from the collection of Harry Beran and

was originally collected by the Reverend Harry
Robinson in the 1930-1940s from the
D'Entrecateaux Islands.
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village: MAASAI TRIBE

SHORT WOOD HANDLE MASAI

men's right of passage in killing a lion.
The Maasai spears and their magic were widely

sought after by the Abagusii and the Luo
people. When traded these people repaid with
foodstuffs.
No Picture 2
Country: Cook Islands
District: Mangaia
Village:
Description.: ADZE HAFTED CEREMONIAL

Auctions, Sydney.
The blade is ancient but the haft is 20th

century.
No Picture 2
Country: INDONESIA
District: JAVA
Village:
Description.: KNIFE KRIS TALISMANIC

illustration.
This example is the sacred Kris Majapahit or
Kris sajen. Not used as a weapon and is dated
to 1294AD - 1527AD
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MASSIM AREA
Village:
Description: Also called a Garden magician''s

axe and associated with rituals associated with
garden magic. Similar to photograph on page
76 of The Kula A Bronislaw Malinowski
Used to hold the extremely important
greenstone axe heads originally imported from
Woodlark Island.
The handle is called taramasima (we went to
Misima.)
Illustrated in Seligmann Plate LXII
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: LOUISIADES AREA - Massim
Village:
Description.: AXE HAFTED STONE BLADE

MASSIM
Sydney.
Similar to photograph on page 50 of The Kula A

Bronislaw Malinowski Centennial Exhibition
Robert H Lowie Museum of Anthropology
California 1985
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: trobriands
Village:
Description.: PEARLSHELL KNIFE WITH SAPI

ATTACHMENT - MASSIM
Description: Lawson's lot #655 (ref No. on item
#EC139) (was lot 543 Sothebys Sydney
28/10/96) sold by Glenbow Museum Calgary
Canada for the Museum's Endowment Fund. Ex
Ingeborg Marshall and collected by Edith
Twyford and Jane Pearce Methodist missionaries
in Trobriands between 1919 and 1925.
Similar to photograph on page 93 of The Kula A
Bronislaw Malinowski Centennial Exhibition
Robert H Lowie Museum of Anthropology
California 1985
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: Pendant Conus - DOGA - Massim,

glass beads
Description: Part of Lawson's lot #655 (Ref
number on the item is #EC140). This lot was
originally unpaid Lot 543 of Sotheby's Sydney
28/10/96 auction of items sold by Glenbow
Museum, Calgary, Canada for the Museum's
endowment Fund. Originally from Ingeborg
Marshall and was collected by Edith Twyford and
Jane Pearce, Methodist Missionaries in the
Trobriands in the period between 1919 and
1925
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: LIME SPATULA BONE WITH SAPI

ETC DECORATION - MASSIM
Description: Cassowaries are not found in the
Massim Islands. Their bones had to be obtained
by trade and the spatulas subsequently made in
these islands. In the Trobriands these spatulas
were reserved for people of rank.
This spatula, because of its decorations,
appears to have been used by an important
man.

some are used for less peaceful purposes. A No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

man.

Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

man.

Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SEPIK
Village:
Description.: LIMESTICK BONE CASSOWARY

WITH NASSA DECORATION

The nassa shell ornament on the head of the

stick were 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: SEPIK
Village:
Description.: LIMESTICK BONE CASSOWARY

WITH CARVED CASSOWARY

No Picture 2
Country: INDONESIA
District:
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE RED GLASS BEADS
Description: Valued items for wearing and

valued in trade.
No Picture 2
Country: MALI
District:
Village:
Description.: AXE HAFTED METAL BLADE BONE

HAFT CEREMONIAL
Sydney.
Metal axe heads and hoes were a popular

monetary/trade item.
No Picture 2
Country: INDONESIA
District: TANIMBAR ISLAND
Village:

Sydney.
Probably - Bronze Age - 200BC
No Picture 2
Country: INDONESIA
Village:

Sydney.
Bronze Age - 200BC
No Picture 2
Country: INDONESIA
Village:

Sydney.
Probably Bronze Age - 200BC
No Picture 2
Country: INDONESIA
Village:

Sydney.
Probably Bronze Age - 200BC
No Picture 2
Country: Zaire
District:
Village: Kuba People
Description.: KNIFE BLADE IRON
Description: Excavated in Africa with the haft

being added later.
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 No Picture 2
century. Many daggers were then forged by
Congolese blacksmiths to emulate foreign
examples. They were reserved for nobles and
used for important ceremonial occasions.
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: SPEARHEAD IRON
Description: Excavated in Africa. 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

Rossel
Moneys. Important
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: DAMUNU VILLAGE
Description: Originally collected from Nyiui

Mwase of Yonga Bay in a shell money collecting
mission around the island by Mundi Kwomele of
Damunu Village in Western Rossel for the
payment of his daughter''''s Bride Price. It was
not required and so came to Jerome kaiyobu.
Rossel
items
five pages to them.

Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NDAP YENANINDO Class #15

Rossel
the denomination " Yenanindo ". These were
rarity)
Moneys.

Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: WALI VILLAGE
Description: Previously owned by Walum Bupi

who obtained it at a pig feast at Yonga Bay from
Tadua Tobo of Voupu Village.
Rossel
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: NDAP DWONDWO Class #1

Rossel
the
denomination "Dwondwo". These were made by
items
five pages to them. It is probable that, after the
Yap Stone Money, these are the most important

Country: NEW GUINEA

Rossel
Moneys. Important
Country: NEW GUINEA

Rossel
Moneys. Important
Country: NEW ZEALAND
District:
Village:
Description.: JADE TIKI
Description: Provenance: Collected 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. He was a well respected seaman who
was the author of at least three publications
and was captain of the Croydon when it was
chartered by Alexander Agassiz, the famous
American scientist, 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 (born Esther Eulalie
Thomson), rested in a house in Caloundra,
Queensland, from 1935 until it was moved to
Brisbane many decades later. This part of the
collection numbers over 20 items, including
oceanic artefacts. Sold at Pickles Auctions,
Sydney September 1986. It dates to the 19th
century but was made with European tools.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: WEST NEW BRITAIN
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING -VULA- C.17M

Auctions, Sydney.
The Kaliai women make the shellstring called

Vula for the men to use.
They were used to purchase masks, in the

building of men''s houses, bride wealth and in
mortuary presentations.
See Opitz pages 362-363.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: Purari River Area
Description.: CLUBHEAD STONE DISC

Auctions, Sydney.
Collected in September/October 1942 by
Lieutenant Alfred Austin Bloxham of The
Australian New Guinea Administrative Unit
(ANGAU).
Bloxham was originally a District Officer in PNG

in early 1930s. During his time of duty he
undertook to illustrate with watercolours the
artefacts and totems of the areas he visited.
With the advent of WWII he used the
illustrations as a seal on friendly messages that
were sent to the villages during the Japanese
occupation.
These artefacts were probably collected in his

search from Kainantu to the Purari River when
he was searching for an overland route to the
South Coast for the Australian Army.
Refer
https://www.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf
/RCDIG1070182--1-.pdf
Called gabagaba, it was one of the highest

valued items of the area.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: Purari River Area
Description.: CLUBHEAD STONE DISC

Auctions, Sydney.
Collected in September/October 1942 by
Lieutenant Alfred Austin Bloxham of The
Australian New Guinea Administrative Unit
(ANGAU).
Bloxham was originally a District Officer in PNG

in early 1930s. During his time of duty he
undertook to illustrate with watercolours the
artefacts and totems of the areas he visited.
With the advent of WWII he used the
illustrations as a seal on friendly messages that
were sent to the villages during the Japanese
occupation.
These artefacts were probably collected in his

search from Kainantu to the Purari River when
he was searching for an overland route to the
South Coast for the Australian Army.
Refer
/RCDIG1070182--1-.pdf
Called gabagaba, it was one of the highest

valued items of the area.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MOUNT HAGEN
Village:
Description: #158 Collected in

September/October 1942 by Lieutenant Alfred
Austin Bloxham of The Australian New Guinea
Administrative Unit (ANGAU) was originally a
District Officer in PNG in early 1930s. During his
time of duty he undertook to illustrate with
watercolours the artefacts and totems of the
areas he visited. With the advent of WWII he
used the illustrations as a seal on friendly
messages that were sent to the villages during
the Japanese occupation. During the war he was
sent to search for an overland route to the
South Coast from and trekked from Kainantu to
the Purari River for the Australian Army.
Refer
/RCDIG1070182--1-.pdf
One of their superb green stone axe blades
used in their Bride Price Axes.
Country: MARSHALL ISLANDS
District:
Village:
Description: A high valued money item of the

area.
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:

Sydney.
Pu Money of Ancient China.

cash.
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:

Sydney.
Pu Money of Ancient China.

cash.
No Picture 2
Country: KENYA
District:
Village: Turkana People
Description.: KNIFE STEEL WRIST
Description: Called ararait, a valued blade worn

on the wrist by the Turkana people.
It is also commonly worn by the Pokot, and

Karamojong men.
The British banned the making and wearing of

these objects during colonial rule as they were
considered lethal in close-combat fights.
Nevertheless, the Turkana are a war-like tribe
that continues to wear and use this weapon.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: NEW IRELAND
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING SHELL MONEY
Description: From Lawsons Tribal Art Auctions,

Sydney.
A long and high value shell string from New

Ireland.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Papuan Gulf Area
Village:
Description.: PEARLSHELL CRESCENT (Mairi)

KINA GRASS AND SEED POD
Description: 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.
Refer Opitz p176 and Quiggins p180 Fig 76
This actual item is iIllustrated on page 20 of
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: CENTRAL PROVINCE
Village: RIGO
Description.: PEARLSHELL CRESCENT KINA DOT

DECORATION
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.
Refer Opitz p176 and Quiggins p180..
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: CENTRAL PROVINCE
Village: RIGO
Description.: NECKLACE PIG TUSK -Doga (?)
Description: A "poor man's Doga".

The necklace is a lesser type of the standard
high value red shell money string with pig tusks
of the area. Instead of red shell money the
necklace has discs of coconut.
See C.0548
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description: Part of Lawson''s lot #164 (Ref

umber on the item is #EC122). This lot was
originally unpaid Lot 544 of Sotheby''s Sydney
Museum, Calgary, Canada for the Museum''s
jane Pearce, Methodist Missionaries in the
1925
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description: Part of Lawson''s lot #164 (Ref

number on the item is #EC124). This lot was
originally unpaid Lot 544 of Sothebys Sydney
Museum, Calgary, Canada for the Museums
1925
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description: Tortoiseshell Spatuals were more

highly valued than similar ones of wood.
Part of Lawsons lot #164 (Ref umber on the

item is #EC125). This lot was originally unpaid
Lot 544 of Sothebys Sydney 28/10/96 auction
of items sold by Glenbow Museum, Calgary,
Canada for the Museums endowment Fund.
Originally from Ingeborg Marshall and was
collected by Edith Twyford and jane Pearce,
Methodist Missionaries in the Trobriands in the
period between 1919 and 1925
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: LIME SPATULA BONE

Part of Lawson's lot #164 (Ref number on the

item is #EC126). This lot was originally unpaid
Lot 544 of Sothebys Sydney 28/10/96 auction
of items sold by Glenbow Museum, Calgary,
Canada for the Museum's endowment Fund.
Originally from Ingeborg Marshall and was
collected by Edith Twyford and Jane Pearce,
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description: Part of Lawson''s lot #655 (No Ref

umber on the item). This lot was originally
unpaid Lot 544 of Sotheby''s Sydney 28/10/96
auction of items sold by Glenbow Museum,
Calgary, Canada for the Museum''s endowment
Fund. Originally from Ingeborg Marshall and
was collected by Edith Twyford and jane Pearce,
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description: Part of Lawsons lot #164 (Ref

originally unpaid Lot 544 of Sothebys Sydney
Museum, Calgary, Canada for the Museums
Jane Pearce, Methodist Missionaries in the
1925
No Picture 2
Country: KENYA
District:
Village: Turkana People
Description.: KNIFE STEEL WRIST
Description: Called ararait, a valued blade worn

on the wrist by the Turkana people.
It is also commonly worn by the Pokot, and

Karamojong men.
The British banned the making and wearing of

these objects during colonial rule as they were
considered lethal in close-combat fights.
Nevertheless, the Turkana are a war-like tribe
that continues to wear and use this weapon.
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village: ZIMBABWE

SHAFT
Sydney.

No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village: ZIMBABWE

SHAFT
Sydney.

No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Fly River, Telefomin Area
Village:
Description.: ARROW WOODEN CARVED POINT
Description: Fly River. Typically used on head

hunting and revenge raids. Identified by Barry
Craig (author & SA Museum) as from the
Mountain Ok people, Telefomin area Western Fly
River .
No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
District: NSW, NEAR BATHURST
Village: Wiradjuri Tribe
Description: From Te-Koona property,

Fitzgerald's Valley, near Bathurst.
Although never attaining a true currency or
money the stone axe blade was a popular trade
item throughout Australia.
No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
District: NSW, NEAR BATHURST
Village: Wiradjuri People
Description: Axe stone was a more utilitarian

item that was traded great distances. In south
eastern Australia axes have been shown by the
doyen of axe trade studies, Isabel McBryde, to
have been traded 600 to 700 kilometres from
their source, and some even as far as 800
kilometres. .. Work at the quarry would have
consisted of the stone being extracted and
roughly trimmed into 'blanks', pieces of a
convenient size and shape for making into axes.
The final trimming of the axe and the grinding
of the blade would have been done
elsewhere.... The 'rate of exchange' is unknown,
except that in the 1840s the donor of one
possum skin rug received three axe blanks.
Since it would take much longer to make a
possum skin rug, which involved obtaining,
preparing and sewing together as many as
seventy skins, than the two hours or so of work No Picture 2
to turn an axe blank into the finished tool, this
indicates the high value placed on axe stone.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: ARROW WOODEN (2) BARBED

POINTS
Sydney.
These items 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
Country: AUSTRALIA
District:
Village:
Description.: SPEAR WOODEN
Description: A favoured trade item among the

Aborigines in many parts of Australia.
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:

No Picture 2
Country: JAPAN
District:
Village:
Description.: COIN OVAL GOLD KOBAN Bunsei

Period 1819-28
No Picture 2
Country: JAPAN
District:
Village:
Description.: COIN OVAL GOLD KOBAN Manen

Period 1860-67
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Kukukuku
Village: Okapa Village
Description.: Necklace of Bird of Paradise

feathers,possum testicles, orchid stems
Description: Collected in 1973 by John
Pelepczuk who was appointed as an Assistant
Patrol Officer in 1969 and served until 1974
mainly in Henganofi, Okapa and Obura Villages
- All Kukukuku villages. The Kukukuku or Anga
people were cannibals until 1956 (see Jens
Bjerre, The Last Cannibals, published by Michael
Joseph, 1956).
This is a necklace, worn by women, and

consists of pendants of Bird of Paradise
feathers, possum testicles and tree kangaroo
testicles. The feathers are a true money item
used to purchase salt and other items from the
Kukukuku. The other items are probably charms
and amulets to promote fertility.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Kukukuku People
Description.: STONE MORTAR Kukukuku

people were cannibals until 1956 and possibly
for some time after (see Jens Bjerre, The Last
Cannibals, published by Michael Joseph, 1956).
.
Dr Pamela Swadling, Visiting Fellow,
Department of Archaeology and Natural History,
Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies,
ANU,Canberra ACT, Australia identified this as
definitely prehistoric (probably 3500-7500 years
old).
The local people advised that it "came from the
ancestors".
A marvellous and unique stone mortar from No Picture 2

Okapa Village in New Guinea.

are rare.
This item is rare and unique.

Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: STONE PESTLE (PENIS SHAPE)

Kukukuku
people were cannibals until 1956 and possibly
for some time after (see Jens Bjerre, The Last
Cannibals, published by Michael Joseph, 1956).
Dr Pamela Swadling, Visiting Fellow,
Department of Archaeology and Natural History,
Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies,
ANU,Canberra ACT, Australia identified this as
definitely prehistoric (probably 3500-7500 years
old).
The local people advised that it "came from the
ancestors".
A marvellous and unique stone penis-shaped

pestle from Okapa Village in New Guinea. No Picture 2

are rare.
This item is rare and unique.

Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: ARMBAND FIBRE Kukukuku

Joseph, 1956).
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Kukukuku Baruya (Anga) People
Village: Obura Village
Description.: CLOAK BARK Kukukuku

Joseph, 1956).
A true money item used to purchase salt.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Kukukuku Baruya (Anga) People
Village: Obura Village
Description.: CLOAK BARK Kukukuku

Joseph, 1956).
A true money item used to purchase salt.
No Picture 2
Country: COLOMBIA
District: TAIRONA PEOPLE
Village:
Description.: NOSERING METAL TAIRONA
This ia nosering of the Tairona people of

Colombia and dates to ca 900-1200 AD. It is
gold plated copper (tombaga) and would have
been a valuable wearable money/trade item.
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: JADE DRAGON ANCIENT
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 is of great antiquity and is ex the No Picture 2
collection of Oscar Edwards collected 1930s -
catalogue said "Possibly Han" .
District:
Village:
Description: Called Hokata, Bokolo or Tinete.

Hokata is the general name for armrings.

made of clamshell.

'ritually designated women'.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING CONUS 86mm
Description: Called Hokata, Bokolo or Tinete.

are hokata made from conus shells. These were
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 as, at
86mm, it is quite large for a conus?)
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: COWRIE IMITATIONS BONE (5)
Description: Imitation shell carved from bone,

probably used as charms and gifts to the
Temple.
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: BAMBOO TALLY
Description: ENTRY TICKET TO A PARK IN

CHINA. SIMILAR TOKENS WERE ALSO USED AS
MONEY.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: GOURD INSCRIBED WITH PIG

TUSK STOPPER
Description: A minor gift in the Kula Trade
Cycle, in trade and in gift giving.
No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
District: MOUNT ISA QUARRY
Village:

Country: AUSTRALIA
District: EDITH RIVER, NT
Village:

Country: AUSTRALIA
District: EDITH RIVER, Northern Territory
Village:
Description.: SPEARHEAD STONE
Description: Shaped stone tools were used as

spearheads and knives and were a very popular
trade item in the North of Australia.
These were valuable use/trade items.
No Picture 2
Country: AUSTRALIA
District: EDITH RIVER, Northern Territory
Village:
Description.: SPEARHEAD STONE
Description: Shaped stone tools were used as

spearheads and knives and were a very popular
trade item in the North of Australia.
These were valuable use/trade items.
No Picture 2
Country: MARSHALL ISLANDS
District:
Village:
Description: A high valued money item of the

area.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description: A nice quality stone bladed adze

from New Guinea.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: WOODEN PIG
Description: 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: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: AXEBLADE STONE MASSIM BEKU

or BENAM - SMALL THIN
Description: A small green stone axe originally
from Woodlark Island. An important item in the
Kula Trade System. Called Beku.
important.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: MOUNT HAGEN
Village:
Description: One of their superb green stone

axe blades used in their Bride Price Axes.
No Picture 2
District: SANTA CATALINA
Village: MANIWARO VILLAGE
Description.: SHELL NOSE PLUG

Obtained from a native named Josef Faerua.
The local name of the plug is Gima - only worn
by women.
Museums.
Country: AUSTRALIA
District: Sydney
Village:
Description.: Nail Iron
Description: Nails similar to this were used as

an item of trade throughout the Pacific in this
era.
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: Jade Eagle (?) Ancient

Province.
This item is of great antiquity. No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: Jade Holed Eight Sided disc

Province.
This item probably 20th century. No Picture 2
Country: BORNEO
District:
Village:
Description.: CANNON BRONZE MINIATURE
Description: 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: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description: Collected by Richard Aldridge in the

Papuan Gulf Area.
Price.

Torres Straits and Papua Gulf by Col Davidson.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Lower Ramu
Village:
Description.: Pig Tusk pendant

lower Ramu area.



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

village.
price.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: Purari Delta Area

Purari area.
Purari boys who do not eat human flesh always
remain boys. They can never become men.
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District: Miao
Village: Hmong Tribal
Description.: Pendant Metal
Description: The Hmong ( a group within the

Miao people) are spirit worshippers, or animists
who believe that every animate and inanimate
object has a soul, spirit or phi, some of which
are inherently good and some which are bad.
The spirits of deceased ancestors are also
thought to influence the welfare and health of
the living. All these souls need to be constantly
placated with offerings and prayers to ward off
sickness and catastrophe. Shamans play a
central role in village life and decision-making
and every household has an altar where spirits
are supplicated and protection for the
household is sought.
This ornate and large chest pendant would have
been worn by a Hmong girl for important
occasions.
The custom designs on the item include Chinese

auspicious motifs and are charms to ward off
evil spirits, promote fertility, etc.
Possibly of a low quality silver.

A very similar item is illustrated page 246 of
Ethnic Jewellery and Adornment by Daalder.
A valued item.
Country: SOUTH AMERICA
District:
Village:
Description.: Cloth Fragments Pre-Columbian
Description: To the Aztec, cottom 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.
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 No Picture 2
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.
District: Kaitorete Spit, East Side of South
Island
Village:
Description.: Implement Greenstone
Description: Tool made of Nephrite - a true Jade

- and a highly valued trade item among the
Maori.
No Picture 2
District: Kaitorete Spit, East Side of South
Island
Village:
Description.: Implement Greenstone
Description: Tool made of Nephrite - a true Jade

- and a highly valued trade item among the
Maori.
No Picture 2
Country: JAPAN
District:
Village:
Description.: Tsuba Sword Guard From a

Katana Edo Period 1603-1868
Description: Tsuba Sword Guard From a Katana
Edo Period 1603-1868.
Appears to be a Chinese copy of an old tsuba

made by Wada Isshin - a famous maker.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

This example is unusual in that is a very thin,

flat sliver of bone.

Country: NEW GUINEA
District: New Britain
Village:
Description.: Necklace of Shellmoney with

Pearlshell Pendant
Description: A beautiful example of a money
shellstring from New Britain with a pearlshell
and nut pendant.
From the Daniella del Tutto gallery in Rome who

obtained it from Tribalmania gallery in America.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Sepik
Village:
Description.: NOSESTICK BONE
Description: A "poor man's shell nosestick". This

nosestick is made of bone, not shell, and would
be a minor trade valuable
No Picture 2
Country: VIETNAM
District: Northern District
Village:
Description.: Bronze Dagger Knife Dong Song
Description: Excavated in North Vietnam.

600BC to 100BC
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
Tne period and onwards, which were often in
the large number of these present in some
day" purchases.
No Picture 2
Country: FRANCE
District:
Village:
Description.: Bell Money Celtic
Description: Ancient Celtic Bell Money (7th-5th

cent. BC). Were used as pre-monetary means of
exchange - pieces of bronze were given a rough
shape of bells and used as money.
Before the introduction of struck coinage in
Celtic lands, Celtic ring money (gold, silver and
bronze rings), celtic arrowhead and bell money
were used as currency in Celtic lands in Danube
area, France, England and Ireland. Sometimes
these rings took an elaborate shape (such as
"wheel money" in Gaul, star-shaped rings,
interlinked rings etc.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: Baler Shell Fishhook with twine
Description: Fishhooks have been one of the

most popular trade items throughout the Pacific.
This use item had good trade value.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: Mendi Area

area.
Their value in the uppe r Wahgi Valley in the
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Irian Jaya
Village: manokwari Area
Description.: Necklace pendant Human

Vertebrae
Description: Probably from the collection of the
missionaries of the Holy Heart (in the
Netherlands). According to their archive/books
a lot of primitive jewellery was collected by a
missionary named Zegwaard in the end of 1958
or the beginning of 1959. This missionary was
stationed in 1958 in Agats and from there he
did a lot of tours, most of his beginning years
he spent in the (unknown) Southern part of the
Asmat-area. In November 1959 the
missionaries in Holland received a small
container with Shields and some Asmat
Jewellery for their own collection (to inform the
Dutch people where and why they were working
in New Guinea). This necklace probably came
from the village of Baous (lying south of Agats).
Pendants like these were mostly from the body
of the enemy and were worn by warriors to
prove they were successful headhunters. These No Picture 2
pendants represented a high value. Zegwaard
later wrote a lot of papers about the Asmat.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: ADMIRALTY ISLANDS
Village:
Description.: Necklace Dogteeth Inscribed

Admiralty Islands.

Price.
Dogs teeth from this area are unusual in that

they are inscribed with custom designs.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: New Ireland - called Manum
Village:
Description.: Necklace Money Shellstring Mis
Description: Called Manum. See Plates XX, XXI

and XXII MELANESIAN SHELL MONEY in Field
Museum Collections (1929) Lewis.
A rare and highly valued money item.
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: Fish Money bronze
Description: Said to have been used as money

ib the Zhou Dynasty 1122-255 BC
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: Knife Money - Straight Knife Kan

Tan "Dao"
Description: Obverse : "Gan Dan Bi" which
translates to "Gan Dan Coin". Gan Dan is
probably a mint name.. Also translated as "Kan
Tan Bi" . The more stylized straight knifes, with
characters on one side may be contemporary
with the later Ming knifes, probably ca. 300
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: Pu Round Shoulder Cheng Cheng

Cheng Shan Chin Tang Huan
The characters read Liang Zheng Bi Bai Dang
Lie meaning "Liang regular coin 100 to a lie" (1
Jin). Has also been translated as "Cheng
Cheng Cheng Shan Chin Tang Huan".
Chou Dynasty. Before 256 BC.
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: Pu An Yang

The characters read An Yang.
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: Hollow Handle Spade Pu Bo
Description: Early Period.

Zhou (Chou) Dynasty (770 BC - 221 BC).
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: Pu Ping Yang

The characters read P'ing Yang.
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: Knife Money Wang Mang - Gold
Description: Minted from 7-9Ad by Emperor

Wang Mang and worth 5000 Wu Chu bronze
coins. The characters at the top of the coin are
of inlaid gold and all characters translate as
"Inscribed Knife Five Hundred". Demonetized in
9AD.. Of highest rarity.
No Picture 2
Country: MALI
District: Sahara
Village:
Description.: Beads (17) Neolithic 5000BP
Description: Beads Neolithic 5000BP
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: Cowrie Imitation Gold Plated

Bronze
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: Pu Round Shoulder An Yi Pu

The characters read An Yi Er Jin (value 2).
Sometimes translated as An Yi Pu.
No Picture 2
Country: MALI
District: Sahara
Village:
Description.: Stone Celt Neolithic 5000BP
Description: Found in the Sahara area of Mali

this small axe blade or adze blade is dated to
Neolithic Times around 3000BC.
No Picture 2
Country: JUDEA
District: Holy Land
Village:
Description.: Glass Beads - Ancient

valued in trade.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Trobriands - Massim
Village:
Description.: AXEBLADE STONE MASSIM BEKU

or BENAM.
Description: A large green stone axe originally
from Woodlark Island. An important item in the
Kula Trade System. Called Beku.
important.
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: Pu Round Foot Ping Chou

The characters read Ping Chou.
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: Cowrie Imitation Ant Coin
Description: Cowrie Imitation - Ant Coin
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Sepik
Village:
Description.: NOSESTICK BONE (possibly

clamshell)
be a minor trade valuable
No Picture 2
Country: MALI
District:
Village:
Description.: Arrowhead Stone (3) neolithic

5000BC
Description: A popular trade item throughout
the ages.
No Picture 2
Country: INDONESIA
Village:
Description.: Mamuli
Mamuli are nothing more than ritual

representatives of one or several horses.
Originally they consisted of the gold of the coins
that an inhabitant of Sumba Island received
when he sold horses to the Dutch. As he had no
idea of what to do with it he had it changed into
mamuli and woven chains by a goldsmith.
Mamuli played an outstanding role in the bride
price that was paid on Sumba Island. This
ceremony is an outstanding example of how
closely this exchange of gifts brought the two
tribes together. The gifts were given by both
sides. While the grooms family gave mainly
horses, buffalos and such mamuli, the brides
family donated sarongs, sheets and pigs.
Nowadays coins and paper money supplement
the bride price. But mamuli are still handed No Picture 2
over today made of silver or base metals which
fulfils the ritual purpose in the same way.
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: Cowrie Imitation Jade

Province.
This item is of great antiquity and was No Picture 2
excavated from early graves. Thought to be
Shang Dynasty.
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: Pu Money Wang mang 200

cash.
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: Cowrie Imitation Silver
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: Hollow Handle Spade Wu
Description: Zhou (Chou) Dynasty (770 BC -

221 BC).
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: Pu Round Shoulder An Yi Yi Chin

The characters show An Yi value two chin.
Minted under the Chou Dynasty between the
8th to 3rd centuries BC..
No Picture 2
Country: YAP
District: Ulithi Atoll
Village:
Description.: ARMBAND TORTOISESHELL
Description: Rare item from a scarce locality.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Kiriwina/Trobriands
Village: Luya Village
Description.: LIME SPATULA WOOD Small

Decorated
Description: Lime spatulas are used to transfer
lime to the mouth of a person chewing betel
nut.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: TORRES STRAITS - PAPUAN GULF
Village:
Description.: CLUBHEAD STONE TRIANGULAR -

Called "Duimau Kuma"
Description: Description: 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
as the Tugeri lands of Irian Jaya and I have
obtained a Disc-shaped one 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. The triangular shaped clubhead is called
Duimau Kuma.
Money Substitutes and Favoured Trade Items of No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Massim
Village:
Description.: Pearlshell Pendant for Bagi -

MASSIM
Description: This is the goldlip pearlshell
pendant for the famous Massim Kula Cycle
valuable called Bagi or Soulava.
No Picture 2
Country: INDONESIA
District: JAVA
Village:
Description.: Bronze Ring
Description: Probably - Bronze Age - 200BC
No Picture 2
District: New Georgia
Village:
Description.: Shellring Valuable
Description: This ring of clamshell is a Barava

called Bokolo (bokolo is also the name given to
a normal clamshell hokata money ring).
It was used in bride price, to buy land and for

tribal reconciliation and compensation. It was
also "Kastom Money" and placed on shrines and
graves. This one came from a grave.

Solomon Islands.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Sudest - near Rossel
Village: Areatha Village
Description.: Daveri Shell Money (2) In Fibre

pouches - MASSIM
Description: Traded from Harry Beran on behalf
of John Friede USA.
A rare and true money from Sudest Island -
rather similar in many respects to the Ndap of
Rossel.
Some of the small Daveri shell money, called

tongue of the snake, is believed to grow larger
through magic when places in its fibre
container.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Sudest - Near Rossel
Village: Areatha Village
Description.: Daveri Shell Money (2) plain -

MASSIM
Description: Traded from Harry Beran on behalf
of John Friede USA.
A rare and true money from Sudest Island -
rather similar in many respects to the Ndap of
Rossel.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: Asmat
Description.: Wooden Axe Handle
Description: A nicely carved handle to hold the

stone axe blade of the Asmat.
No Picture 2
C No: C.1686 Acq Date: 0716 No Picture 1
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Oro
Village:
Description.: Headband Shell and fibre
Description: This warrior's headband is a

standard type of decoration and is valued as
such. See Fig 3.6 of Oro Province
Art...Beran/Aguirre.
No Picture 2
N
o
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: Pig Tusk Pendant
Description: A wearable, decorative valuable.

in PNG mythology.


presented to the head of the No Picture 2
village.
price.

Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Sepik
Village:
Description.: Bracelet Conus Shell and Fibre
Description: An item of wearablewealth. The

conus discs were a valuable money item of the
area.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Massim
Village:
Description.: Pendant Egg Cowrie with Seeds on

fibre - MASSIM
Description: 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.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Massim
Village:
Description.: Necklace Plastic Bead - MASSIM
Description: Valued modern items for wearing

but still valued in trade for decoration.
No Picture 2
District: Vella Lavella
Village:
Description.: Pendant Poata/Tortoiseshell
Description: This is a shell ring breast ornament

from the Vella Lavella area of the Solomons. It
is worn only by men of chiefly rank as a marker
of their authority. The main element is the
Poata, a true standard item of shell money. The
poata is backed with turtleshell and embellished
with ornaments. In the distant past the usual
shell ring was the Bakiha, which has a yellow
stain on one section.
A valuable monetary wearable.
No Picture 2
Country: PERU/ECUADOR
District:
Village: Jivaro tribe
Description.: Headband Red feathers and Fibre
Description: A rare and very highly valued item

of trade in the area.
This item was actually used to decorate a
shrunken head.
Picture not found:

C:\USERS\COL\DOCUMENTS\KEEPERNET\PIC94-9984-2.JPG
Country: MEXICO
District: YUCATAN
Village:
Description.: BELL COPPER YUCATAN
Description: 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: SAUDI ARABIA
District:
Village:
Description.: Hairpin Money-Toweelah (3)
Description: 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: Collingwood Bay
Village:
Description.: Axeblade Stone Jade Nephrite
Description: Appears to be part antigorite

(serpentine) and part nephrite (jade),
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 fairly similar in looks to the
Maori greenstone (Jade).
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Papuan Gulf
Village: Kivaumai
Description.: GOPE BOARD WOOD
Description: Gope Boards are wooden ritual

objects made in the Papuan Gulf of New Guinea.
They represent spirits which can protect clans
from sickness, evil spirits, and death.
Gope boards are also used in raids on other
clans and headhunting missions. They are
consulted as to which enemy to attack, and the
spirits contained in the boards are thought to go
ahead of the warriors to sap the enemies of
their strength. They are also used to display
skulls won in battle.
Non-monetary.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Massim
Village:
Description.: Inscribed Coconut Lime Container

larger - MASSIM
Description: Used as minor gift/trade items.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Massim
Village:
Description.: Inscribed Coconut Lime Container

Smaller - MASSIM
Description: Used as minor gift/trade items.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Sepik
Village:
Description: Called Iwan.

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: SIAM
District:
Village:
Description.: Votive tablet
Description: A votive tablet from Siam.
Not a monetary item.
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: Wood Carving Man
Description: Non monetary.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Nomad Area
Village:
Description.: Arrow Wooden with carved head
Description: Fly River Nomad area. Traditional

blood and lime binding on flight shaft join.
Typically used on head hunting and revenge
raids.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: Jade Boulder
Description: This is a small boulder 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
have mana (status) and to be tapu (sacred).
The stone is highly treasured by all tribes
throughout New Zealand, and it was extensively No Picture 2
traded in the North Island.
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: Coin Sword Made Of Cash Coins
Description: Important part of traditional

wedding. These have legendary powers to slay
demons bent on causing marital troubles. Used
in rituals to ward off evil spirits. Also hung
above beds of sick people to drive off spirits.
Hung on the curtains of cots to protect newborn
babies from the spirits of women who had died
chuldless and who tried to steal infants.
No Picture 2
Country: BORNEO
District:
Village:
Description.: Sword Dyak
Description: he MANDAU (or Parang Ihlang) is

the traditional sword of the Dyak tribes of
Borneo. It was primarily associated with the
Head Hunting tradition of the Dyaks but also
used as a general-purpose jungle knife. It has a
slightly curved single edge blade with a
convex / concave cross section. It is a fearsome
and very efficient weapon in the experienced
hand, and was really used for head hunting.
Like the Keris, the Dayak Parang, is believed
to have supernatural power and is transmitted
from generation to generation. Good quality
blades are made of iron which does not oxidize.
Also like the Keris, meteorite ore including
titanium, was used to make blades.
In the 17th century Parangs were
manufactured in the Moluccas and by Tidorese
smiths and from Tobunku, Belitung and
Karimata and were traded as far as the No Picture 2
MacCluer Gulf and parts of the Bird''s Head in
New Guinea. The Bugis from N.E. and E. coasts
of Borneo, from Bali, Celebes, Sumbawa, and
other islands brought goods to Singapore to
trade for Parangs and other items.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: Asmat
Description.: Human Jawbone Pendant
Description: Information from previous owner:

"I bought the 2 Asmat pendants and 1 jawbone
in the eighties from the collection of the
the 3 pieces with a lot of other primitive
jewellery and shields were collected by a
or the beginning of 1959. He was stationed in
1958 in Agats and from there he did a lot of
tours, most of his beginning years he spent in
the (unknown) Southern part of the Asmat-
area. In November 1959 the missionaries in
Holland received a small container with Shields
and some Asmat Jewellery for their own
collection (to inform the Dutch people where
and why they were working in New Guinea).
The two necklaces came from the village of
Baous (lying south of Agats). Pendants like
these were mostly from the body of the enemy
and were worn by warriors to prove they were
successful headhunters. These pendants
represented a high value. This is all the
information I got from the missionaries of the
"Holy Heart". Quote from "The Sorcery of
Sweetness" J A Bell page 133; Jawbone
necklaces were important valuables used in
bridewealth and peace payments." Zegwaard
later wrote a lot of papers about this. In the
Nineties I had a lot of talks about this with
Zegwaard
at that time. In the late nineties he died. In a

book from the Konrads (Asmat-Leben mit den
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: Baous (South of Agats)

Vertebrae
Description: Information from previous owner: I
bought the 2 Asmat pendants and 1 jawbone in
the eighties from the collection of the
the 3 pieces with a lot of other primitive
jewellery and shields were collected by a
or the beginning of 1959.
This missionary was stationed in 1958 in Agats
and from there he did a lot of tours, most of his
beginning years he spent in the (unknown)
Southern part of the Asmat-area. In November
1959 the missionaries in Holland received a
small container with Shields and some Asmat
in New Guinea). The two necklaces came from
the village of Baous (lying south of Agats).
prove they were successful headhunters. These
pendants represented a high value. This is all
the information I got from the missionaries of
the "Holy Heart"
Zegwaard later wrote a lot of papers about
this. In the Nineties I had a lot of talks about
this with Zegwaard,
he lived very nearby in that time. In the late
nineties he died.
In a book from the Konrads (Asmat-Leben mit

den Ahnen) which means Asmat-Life with
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Woodlark Island Massim
Village:

with decoration
Description: Tortoiseshell Spatuals were more
highly valued than similar ones of wood.
Collected by Richard Aldridge on Woodlark

Island - at least 80 years old
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: EAST SEPIK - YANGARU AREA
Village: KUBALIA
Description.: Shell Melo Pendant Bailer Shell

With Coconut Lizard
Description: From the East Sepik Yangaru area.

The lizard carved in coconut shell makes it

interesting.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Trobriand Islands - Massim
Village:
Description.: Doba - banana leaf women's

money
Description: In the Trobriand Islands women
make their own money. Fresh banana leaves
are scraped against a board that is engraved
with the family seal. Strips of the impressed leaf
are bundled into hundreds and are worth about
one Kina/one dollar.
The Trobriand Island women have their own
form of wealth in bundles of banana leaves. The
dried banana leaf bundles which women bring
to the market in Kiriwina (a recently founded
market initiated by women) allow for those
without Western money to be able to make
purchases regardless of their lack of cash.
Women and the wealth of their banana
leaves. Women manufacture and control their
own wealth The Trobriand women typically
perform these extravagant displays of wealth
after the death of a fellow islander. Payment of
yams, bundles of banana leaves, and eventually No Picture 2
the distribution of red skirts are given to the
family members of the deceased.
These forms of payment are also used to pay
workers during the mourning period when a
Trobriand Islander dies.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Sudest Island - Massim
Village:
Description: Tip has been careffully scraped

clean as is the custom on Sudest.
Tortoiseshell Spatuals were more highly valued

than similar ones of wood.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:


those decorated with Bagi shells. The clapper No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: Knife "Dao"
Description: EASTERN ZHOU, 770-400 BC,

bronze dao knife, 150mm long
Rev. Coole quotes original Chinese texts as
stating that copper knives were being used as
coinage in the twelfth century BC. When the
Duke of Ch'i overran the Chi-Mo
"barbarians" in the seventh century BC they had
already, according to the records, been
making knife money for over two hundred
years. Thereafter manufacture of the knife
coins was controlled by Ch'i.
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: Coin Value of "One Knife"
Description: Bronze coin Zhou Dynasty 300-

256BC. Cast at the end of the Zhou Dynasty or
possibly the beginning of the Ch'in Dynasty. The
two characters translate as "one knife" and
appear to replace the actual knife money
although reduced considerably in size.
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: Knife Money Pointed Tip "Dao"
Description: Warring States period. 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 inscriptio
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: Earring Shell and Tortoiseshell
Description: Collected by Richard Aldridge.

Old Massim Kula ear ring.
This ear ring is not for every day wear and
usually are only displayed during Kula Exchange
ceremonies. They are worn by chiefs wives as
they are a status symbol due to the use of
traditional shell money. Made from Spondylus
shell on a turtle shell frame
No Picture 2
Country: CHINA
District:
Village:
Description.: Pu Money Wang Mang 400

cash.
No Picture 2
Country: TIBET
District:
Village:
Description.: Dzi Beads (10)
Description: 10pcs Old Chinese Tibetan Mystical

Natural Dragon Eyed DZI Agate Chalcedony
Beads. The unique DZi bead of etched or
treated agate is revered in China Tibet. To
Tibetans and other Himalayan people the dZi is
a "precious jewel of supernatural orign" with
great power to protect its wearer from disaster.
This is an infrequent old natural dragon eyed dzi
Chalcedony Veins agate bead
Pendant , the bead is in good condition. Dzi
Agate was highly valued as a talisman or
amulet. Dzi Agate beads that have Chalcedony
Veins patterns are believed to possess special
powers that can ward off evil and subdue
demons. In general,
Agate bead is able to provide its bearer with
strength, courage & peace and calmness of the
mind. No gemstone is more creatively striped
by nature than Dzi agate. This Agate is formed No Picture 2
in concentric layers and in a wide variety of
colors and textures. Each individual agate is
created when molten minerals filled up a cavity
in host rock. As a result, agate is often found as
a round nodule, with concentric bands like the
rings of a tree trunk. These bands sometimes
bear significant markings like dragon eyes.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: Timika
Description.: Stone Blade Bound In String
Description: These hand axes serve mainly for

ceremonial purposes. Hand axes, axe blades
from stone and shafted stone blades belonging
to the bride price of a woman and were forming
an essential constituent of the family property
and were highly valued traditional payment.
To the sign of the mourning, a woman (some

tribes also the man) chops off herself a phalanx
of the finger with this special stone tool after
the death of her husband or a family member
Refer He-Artefacte (Germany)
The blade itself is similar to ones traded from

near Port Moresby all the way along the coast to
the Asmat area.
See Money Substitutes and Favoured Trade

Items by Col davidson No Picture 2
Country: MOROCCO
District:
Village:
Description.: Money Tree
Description: Ex CNG auction 35.

Landsberg acquired some material that was de-
accessioned from the Detroit Museum of Art
some years back as they were divesting odd,
curious, and primitive coinage. Dated 1263 AH
(1847 A.D.), Morocco, twelve one falus coins.
Actual entry in catalogue "MOROCCO. 1790-
1873. Money Tree. Three rows of four falu
coins each, all featuring pellet within star. Cf.
Opitz, pg.75. Good VF, intact and complete.
($300)" Reserve was US$300 and it sold for
US$360.
No Picture 2
Country: MOESIA
District: ISTROS
Village:
Description.: Wheel Money (Cast Coin)
Description: A crudely cast coin from Istros in

Moesiia. Dating to about 145-460BC. Often
called wheel money.
No Picture 2
Country: FRANCE
District:
Village:
Description.: Assignat Paper Banknote 50 Sols
Description: French Revolution Period. dated

23rd March 1793 and Year 2 of the Republic.
No Picture 2
Country: SCYTHIA
District:
Village:
Description.: ARROWHEAD MONEY (5)
Description: A true Money.

Black Sea region 7th-5th century BC.
Illustrated in publication by Nieczitajlo-Mihailov.
Refer Monetary Circulation and the Political
History of Archaic Borysthenes - Sergei L
Solovyov.
The ancient Scythians had many bloody tribal
customs, including cutting off the heads of slain
enemies, and making leather bound drinking
cups from the skulls. They lined these trophies
with gold and displayed them to impress their
guests.
We do know from history that their bows could

deliver an arrow 521.6 meters which is a little
more then 567 yards according to the
inscription found in a Greek grave which says
"Anaxagoras son of Dimagoras" shot such a bow
in the city of Olbia. When in war the Scythians No Picture 2
are said to have carried from 30 to 150 arrows
into battle.
The arrow heads were developed and designed

by the Scythians were superior than arrows
used by their Middle East neighbors. They were
considered much better than the traditional leaf
shaped arrow heads used in Mesopotamia.
The Scythian arrow head is known as the

"Scythian point". This arrow head had more of a
bullet shape with three sides and each of those
three sides had very small wings. The reason
for this innovation was to penetrate armor
better.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: Orokolo
Description.: PRESENTATION STICK BONE
Description: Collected by Richard in Orokolo

A form of currency display for bride price.
Richard asked old
villagers what they look like when they are
complete and was told they had strings of small
red shell beads threaded through each hole. He
saw most of them between Orokolo Bay and
Ihu. At first he thought they were limesticks but
an old guy set him straight and pointed out that
bone limesticks are flat at the bottom so they
can be used like little spoons and that these
were to display red bead shells (Bagi?). He has
seen about a dozen in total and probably
collected 8.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: Orokolo

Richard asked old
collected 8.
No Picture 2
Country: AFRICA
District:
Village:
Description.: Weight Cast Bronze Figure
Description: A very old gold weight of the

Ashanti people. It is in the shape of a camel.

No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Middle Sepik
Village:
Description.: Clamshell Discs Belt
Description: A valuable monetary item from the

area - used in Bride Price and other important
purchases.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Sepik
Village:
Description: A highly valued money/trade item

of the area.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Sepik
Village:
Description.: NOSESTICK BONE

be a minor trade valuable.
No Picture 2
Country: INDONESIA
Village:
Description.: Mamuli (Large)
Description: Handmade pendant of

copper/brass in traditional Sumbanese style
bought in Bonda Kodi village, far west Sumba in
late 90s. They are earings and pendants
symbolising fertility,the centre of the pendant
being female,the outer male.Worn by both
males and females in marriage and merapu
ceremonies, this one depicts warriors on
horseback. They are ritual representatives of
one or several horses. Originally they consisted
of the gold of the coins that an inhabitant of
Sumba Island received when he sold horses to
the Dutch. As he had no idea of what to do with
it he had it changed into mamuli and woven
chains by a goldsmith.
price that was paid on Sumba Island. Gifts were
given by both sides - the grooms family gave
mainly horses, buffalos and mamuli - the bride's No Picture 2
family donated sarongs, sheets and pigs.
the bride price but mamuli are still handed over
made of silver or base metals which fulfils the
ritual purpose in the same way.
Country: INDONESIA
Village:
Description.: Mamuli (Large)
Description: Handmade pendant of

copper/brass in traditional Sumbanese style
bought in Bonda Kodi village, far west Sumba in
late 90s. They are earings and pendants
symbolising fertility,the centre of the pendant
being female,the outer male.Worn by both
males and females in marriage and merapu
ceremonies, this one depicts a warrior with
spear and shield, They are ritual representatives
of one or several horses. Originally they
consisted of the gold of the coins that an
inhabitant of Sumba Island received when he
sold horses to the Dutch. As he had no idea of
what to do with it he had it changed into
price that was paid on Sumba Island. Gifts were
given by both sides - the grooms family gave
mainly horses, buffalos and mamuli - the No Picture 2
bride''''''''s family donated sarongs, sheets and
pigs.
the bride price but mamuli are still handed over
Country: INDONESIA
Village:
Description.: Mamuli (Smaller)
Description: Hand made pendant of

copper/brass in traditional Sumbanese style -
purchased in Waingapu in 2001.These are ear
rings and pendants decorated with
granulation ,spirals and birds - 1960s or earlier.
An important piece of Sumbanese regalia, it
symbolise fertility. The shape combines both
female and male genitalia and its design is
believed to be thousands of years old. It
appears on textiles , tombs and tattoos. They
are ritual representatives of one or several
horses. Originally they consisted of the gold of
the coins that a Sumbanese received when he
sold horses to the Dutch. He had no idea of
what to do with it and had it changed into
Playing an outstanding role in the bride price
paid on Sumba Island the ceremony is an
example of how closely this exchange of gifts No Picture 2
brought two tribes together. Gifts were given by
both sides. The grooms family gave mainly
horses, buffalos and mamuli, the brides family
donated sarongs, sheets and pigs. Nowadays
coins and paper money supplement the bride
price, but mamuli are still handed over today
Country: FRANCE
District:
Village:
Description.: Ring Money Celtic
Description: Celtic Bronze Ring Proto-money.
Circa 600-400 BC. Bronze ring known as a "Ring

Proto-Money". Used as currency before the
introduction of the coins in the Eastern Danube
region and the Black sea area by the Eastern
Celts.
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
Tene period and onwards, which were often in
the large number of these present in some No Picture 2
day" purchases.
Country: AUSTRALIA
District:
Village:
Description.: BOOMERANG HOOK BOOMERANG
Description: Letter from W Somerville regarding

this item states "..part of a collectiob which I
purchased from the Osborne family of Sydney
about 1960. Their documentatio indicated the
whole collection was assembled during the Sir
Thomas Mitchell surveying expeditions of
western NSW during the late 1820s..ancestors
of..Osborne family purchased..in the
1850s..some..sold to Australian Museum in the
1930s.
kilometres from their original source. (probably
incorrect as to area in which obtained).

Country: AUSTRALIA
District:
Village:
Description.: Hafted Stone Axe

1930s.
Country: AUSTRALIA
District:
Village:
Description.: Woomera

1930s.
Woomeras were an Aboriginal trade item

through some areas of Australia.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: Purari Delta Area

Purari area.
Purari boys who do not eat human flesh always
remain boys. They can never become men.
A high value item of the Papuan Gulf.
No Picture 2
District: CHOISEUL
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING KESA

Honiara, Solomons.
This shell cylinder is called a Mata. Three Mata

make up a Salaka and three Salaka make up
one Kesa. So this shell is one ninth of a Kesa.

denominations, from Kalusape, the highest
value, only possessed by the chiefs, to the
lowest value called Tuekesa.
No Picture 2
District: CHOISEUL
Village:
Description.: SHELLRING KESA

Honiara, Solomons.
This shell cylinder is called a Mata. Three Mata

make up a Salaka and three Salaka make up
one Kesa. So this shell is one ninth of a Kesa.

denominations, from Kalusape, the highest
value, only possessed by the chiefs, to the
lowest value called Tuekesa.
No Picture 2
District:
Village:
Description.: JADE TIKI
Description: The appraisal was done by John

Charles Edler. Mr Edler is a well known author
and sought out expert.. As to toolmarks he
said, "The style and combinationof technical
construction and variations of tool marks
suggest that this figure was probably made in
the late 19th or early twentieth century.
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 No Picture 2
practical properties. Because of its link with
chiefs and peace making, it is considered to
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.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: Canoe Prow Wood
Description: Called Dogina Lagim this old

Massim prow was collected by Clarence Stanton
who was working as a fisherman in New Guinea
in 1961. It is carved from hardwood and sits in
front of the splashboard in the bow of the kula
trading canoe.
These were a custom trade item as evidenced
by :
http://web.sbu.edu/theology/bychkov/kula.pdf
The regional trading systems of the islands
around the eastern end of New Guinea were
particularly elaborate. In the Massim--what is
now Milne Bay province of Papua New Guinea
(taking in the D''Entrecasteaux Islands, the
Louisiades, and nearby islands)--the trade of
pottery from the Amphletts, canoe timber and
greenstone blades from Murua (Woodlark),
carved platters and canoe prow boards, and
other specialized products was complemented No Picture 2
by a flow of yams and pigs from resource-rich
areas to smaller, ecologically less-favoured
islands.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: West New Britain
Village:
Description.: Mokmok
Description: Similar Mokmoks are illustrated in

Harry Berans article: Mokmok stones of New
Britain (HB 1/6/2010). The prehistoric
"mokmok" could be the most valuable
possession of a Loko man or woman of West
New Britain. Passed down from generation to
generation, it is a round flat stone with a
bevelled edge and a hole in the middle. It is not
known where they have come from originally
and some say that "God" put them down here
for them to find. They come in all sizes and the
larger the stone the more valuable. Its great
value seems to be attributable to its hardness
and mysterious origin. They are generally held
by the clan leader and are rarely seen but have
great significance in relation to land ownership.
They are also used in various customs. Certain
stones have their own name and represent the
authority of the clan leader over the land. No Picture 2
On special occasions they are used as
decorations for a "big man" and are worn
around the waist and neck. They have been
used in a "contests of wealth"and have been
used in the past to pay for a murderers "wrong"
so that he shouldn''t die for it. It is also used to
pay sorcerers to murder someone using black
magic.
Country: CONGO
District:
Village: Mongo Tribe
Description.: ELEPHANT TAIL
Description: 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
Country: CONGO
District:
Village: Yaka Tribe
Description.: KNIFE STEEL Disc Shaped Blade
Description: An unusual shaped blade, possibly

for ceremonial or men''s club use but also
valued in trade.
No Picture 2
Country: CONGO
District:
Village: Bwaka and Bangi (Mbang) People
Description.: THROWING KNIFE STEEL
Description: This throwing knife was used by thr

Ngombe(Bangi) people and their nearby
neighbours the Azande and other closeby tribes,
Names given include trombash, kpinga,
kulbeda, etc.It was used as a weapon and as a
currency object.
Quiggin shows one on Plate 1 #20 which she
describes as a Bangala type from the Ubangi
area.
This example is a very old one.
Used as a terrible weapon of war but also as a
currency object.
Fischer advises that this type of knife was

money.
Opitz mentions that these throwing knives were

considered a store of value, a standard of value,
a token of wealth, a treasured heirloom and No Picture 2
were used in bride price.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: East Kerema
Description.: PENDANT -KAP KAP- COCONUT

SHELL & CONUS SHELL
Description: Collected by Richard Aldridge in
East Kerema but he did collect a few a couple of
years before in or near Uruma Island so he
thinks that they were quite well spread across
the Eastern Gulf. At first he thought they were a
decorated button for a bark belt but on both
occasions he had collected them they were in
groups of 4-5 so he doesn't think they are
anything to do with belts but rather a form of
currency / trade valuable.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: East Kerema
Description.: PENDANT -KAP KAP- COCONUT

SHELL & CONUS SHELL
East Kerema but he did collect a few a couple of
years before in or near Uruma Island so he
thinks that they were quite well spread across
the Eastern Gulf. At first he thought they were a
decorated button for a bark belt but on both
occasions he had collected them they were in
groups of 4-5 so he doesn't think they are
anything to do with belts but rather a form of
currency / trade valuable.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: Kerema

Kerema Village.

No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE Pig tusks and ground

shell
Description: Very Highly Valued.
A necklace of the type "Doga" which was a
valued moey item from the Massim people to
well into the Papuan Gulf area.
Ex Markaloo, Canada who obtained it from
Bonham's Auctions in San Francisco.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: Goabari
Description.: ARMBAND CONESHELL
Description: Collected by Richard Aldridge from

Goabari.
Chalmers the missionary was killed and eaten
by the cannibals at Goabari in 1901.
Haddon a good armlet was worth a wife.
Harry Beran, in his and Pam Swadling's article
"What was the function of the prehistoric Conus
armshells found in the
Massim region and in Collingwood Bay?" in
which he illustrates an example of another of
these items owned by me. He states "these
two shells are the only examples of their type I
am aware of". Note that the two illustrations are
not of two items but two sides of the one
artefact (Hallinan's). This one is similar and
was collected Goabari Island by Richard
Aldridge.
Money Substitutes and Favoured Trade Items of No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: Uruma Island/Baimaru Area
Description.: EARRING CONESHELL

Uruma Island/Baimaru Area.
Conus shell had a high monetary value in the
area.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA

area.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SEPIK AREA, EAST, Boiken
Village:
Description.: EARRING TORTOISESHELL
Description: A valued item of wearable money.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: Orokolo

Richard asked old
collected 8.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: Mai Village (West of Kerema)
Description.: HEADBAND CONUS AND FIBRE

Mai Village
An identical Headband being worn by a native is
shown in "anthropologist in Papua" by FE
Williams 1922 -39 Page 77.
A very important trade/money item
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: Kerema

Kerema Village.
A high value item of the Papuan Gulf.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: Baimaru , Kikori region

Baimaru , Kikori region.
Refer Quiggins p182 Fig
No Picture 2
District: MALAITA
Village:
Description.: Shellstring with small tortoiseshell

pendant
Description: A minor shellmoney valuable.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: Orokolo Bay
Description.: LIME SPATULA CASSOWARY BONE

Orokolo. Gulf lime spatulas are listed as RARE in
the book Red Eye of the Sun by Hamson and
Aldridge.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA

area.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA

area.
No Picture 2
Country: SCYTHIA
District:
Village: Lower Danube Area of Bulgaria

Solovyov.
guests.

into battle.


better.
Country: THRACE, OLBIA
District:
Village:
Description.: Bronze Dolphins (3)

vicinity.
Country: RUSSIA
District:
Village:
Description.: Coins (4) Silver "Wire" Kopecks
Description: Coins struck from silver wire.

Kopecks of Ivan The Terrible 1535-1572. Made
from stamped silver wire.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: Mai Village

Mai Village.

Price.
No Picture 2
Country: Sarmatia/Skythia
District: Olbia
Village:
Description.: Bronze Dolphin "OY" Inscription
Description: These small copper pieces cast in

the shape of a dolphin are totally different from
other Greek coins. They are made of bronze,
but the earliest bronze Sicilian coins appeared
about 100 years later. They are cast, but older
by over 200 years than the earliest Italic and
Roman cast money. Finally, they are made in
the shape of a sea mammal, the dolphin. There
was no other such money in the Greek world.
Bronze dolphins first appeared in Olbia between
550-525 B.C. Apollo-Dolphinium had been the
most important god of the Miletian settlers, and
the dolphin was the main attribute of this god.
Small, cast dolphins at first were made as
sacrificial subjects for Apollo, but soon they
became currency, employed by the local settlers
as a primitive money, circulating in Olbia and
vicinity. Around 430-410 BC., the dolphin issue
was taken under control of the polis. Dolphins No Picture 2
became flat on one side and an inscription
appeared in that area (APIXO or OY). These
dolphins were issued for a very short time, and
they are rare. These fish-coins were the last
figure-shaped coins of the Greek world.
Country: Spain
District: Iberia
Village: Celtic
Description.: Bronze Ring
Description: Item of apparel but could be used

for small purchases and giftgiving.
No Picture 2
Country: Spain
District: Iberia
Village: Celtic
Description.: Bronze Fibula

No Picture 2
Country: Cyprus
District:
Village:
Description.: Knife Iron
Description: From: Email from Michael Turner,

Sent: Monday, 18 June 2012 9:16 AM..To: Craig
Barker Subject: FW: Identification of Ancient
Cypriot artifact MICHAEL TURNER FSA Senior
Curator | The Nicholson Museum Dear
Col,Thank you for your inquiry about your iron
knife or dagger, I am an archaeologist at the
Nicholson Museum who works in Cyprus. I"ve
not seen one precisely the same as yours but
certainly could think of no reason to doubt its
authenticity. Cyprus was important in the
process of developing early iron technology, it
seems that in the eastern Mediterranean area
iron came into use between 1200 BC and 1000
BC, and that by the beginning of the tenth
century BC blacksmiths were able to steel iron.
The earliest known quenched-steel object is a
knife (carburized iron knife) from Cyprus, dated
about 1100 BC. No Picture 2
My instinct would be that with the intricate
handle that yours is later (heading towards an
Archaic period date) in date, but I will take a
look around and see if I can come across a
parallel for you (generally the Cypriot knives
I"ve seen of Geometric date have a simpler
handle than your example. Regards, Craig
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Huon Gulf Area
Village:
Description.: Adze Hafted Steel Blade
Description: Collected by Richard Aldridge.
In this case a steel blade had supplanted the

stone.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: West New Britain
Village:
Description.: Obsidian Stemmed Tool
Description: These have been found in levels

below volcanic ash layer dated to 3500 years
BP. Some have been found well below this level.
It has been determined that they are older
than 3900 years BP and possibly dating to
10,000BP. It is also thought that they were a
visible sign of an important man and were
traded in antiquity. .
No Picture 2
Country: OLBIA
Village: and Lower Danube Area

No Picture 2
Country: Cyprus
District:
Village:
Description.: Bronze Fibulas (2) Ring shaped

No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: Wooden Finger Drum called

katunenia.
Description: Somewhat similar to photograph
on page 89 of The Kula A Bronislaw Malinowski
Non-monetary. Used in Kula and other

celebrations.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: SENTANI
Description.: Glass Ring Green
Description: Called Ebha.
Ancient and highly valued glass ring, Malayan

and Chinese traders from past centuries
brought these to New Guinea as barter object,
called OBA
No Picture 2
Country: MEXICO
District: MICHOACAN
Village: Chupicuaro culture
Description.: Obsidian Axe Blade MICHOACAN
Description: A superbly made obsidian axe

blade, It dates to the Pre-Classic period ca 200
BC and comes from the famous collection of
Lorenz Borenstein, New Orleans, collected in
the 1950s.
A high value trade item of the Michoacan
people..
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Sudest Island - Massim
Village: South Coast
Description.: LIME SPATULA Dugong Tooth

Carved
Description: Very highly valued because of the
very scarce material from which it is made.
Collected by Richard Aldridge "I didn''t record
village name but it was on the south coast of
Sudest. Not sure of the fathers date of death
just that the guy i bought it from was also old
so presume it was 20-30 years ago. These
spatulas from what I have been told last a life
time as long as you don''t lose them and are
liked because they are so smooth".
No Picture 2
Country: Sarmatia
District: OLBIA
Village:

vicinity.
Country: ROMAN EMPIRE
District: Umbria
Village: Gubbio
Description.: INGOT AES RUDE COPPER
Description: Central Italy, 5th - 3rd Century BC:

Roman Republican Aes Rudes (or Aes
Infectum). Documented hoard found during
turn-of-the-century excavations near Gubbio,
Umbria. AES Rude: The First Roman "coin."
Unformed cast bronze fragment. This specimen
belonged to turn-of-the-century collector
involved in excavations of Gubbio in Umbria,
central Italy, not far from Perugia. In ancient
times the city was called Eugubium, which
translates to "Of the Umbri." The mountain
above the town is called "Foce" and was the site
for hundreds of years of pagan rituals of the
Cult of the Umbri and goes back to pre-Etruscan
civilizations. "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 Picture not found:
coinage and called these lumps of irregular C:\USERS\COL\DOCUMENTS\KEEPERNET\PIC94-10181-2.JPG
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 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
Country: SERBIA
District:
Village:
Description.: AXEBLADE IRON
Description: Iron socketed axe excavated in

Serbia dating to 1050-750 BC .
Al iron items, especially axes, had high

trade/monetary value in the area at the time.
No Picture 2
Country: OLBIA

No Picture 2
Country: Greece/Macedonia
District:
Village:
Description.: Bronze Knife
Description: 1600-1050 BC. BRONZE AGE. Circa

2nd millennium BC.
No Picture 2
Country: JAPAN
District:
Village:
Description.: Bead called Magatama
Description: Illustration in Plate I of "Coins of

Japan" by N G Munro
Privately obtained from a collection in an old
manor house situated on the Welsh Marches, on
the border of England and Wales (Herefordshire
& Powys). Not far from the tiny medieval
English village of Pembridge. A number of
quality ancient world pieces of Jade, etc were
also obtained.
Country: LAOS
District: Xiang Khoung
Village: Plain of Jars Area
Description.: Axeblade bronze/copper (2)
Description: These were actually found in one of

the great jars in the Plain Of Jars area.
Country: NIGERIA
District:
Village:
Description.: ARMRING ELEPHANT HAIR
Description: 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
Country: Greece/Sicily
District: Akragas
Village:
Description.: Coin Bronze Four Tetras Cast
Description: c450 B.C. cast coin. Cone Shape.

Heads of two eagles back-to-back. Crab on
other side . 3 pellets on base . ref: Calciati 1;
SNG ANS 1017..
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA

metal objects.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SEPIK
Village:

valued in the Papuan Gulv/Torres Strait region
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SEPIK
Village:

valued in the Papuan Gulv/Torres Strait region
No Picture 2
Country: SOLOMONS
Village: ROVIANA LAGOON, Mokasi Island
Description.: Ear Plug Wood and Shell
Description: Ex Sid Hagley Collection.

Collected by AW Dobbie probably from Roviana
Lagoon (Mokasi Island), New Georgia, Solomon
Islands in 1899. The person, later recording
details of the item, incorrectly identified it as
the lid or stopper of a New Guinea coconut
bottle, presumably because Dobbie spent more
time in New Guinea rather than the Solomons.
Alexander William Dobbie (1843-1912) was a
member of the Royal Society of South Australia,
he entered business for himself at the age of
nineteen and became a prosperous merchant
and inventor. A world traveller, he visited many
countries including Europe, Egypt and Ceylon
and, in 1899, New Guinea and The Solomon
Islands. Refer to the South Australian Museum
Archives: AA390/1671: A.W.Dobbie 42
photographs 1899 Solomon Is, PNG: Madang,
New Britain, Milne Bay & Central Prov. No Picture 2
In 2007-2008 the Art Gallery of South Australia
acquisitioned a number of photographs by AW
Dobbie taken in New Guinea and the Solomons
Rubiana Lagoon, Mokasi Island - all taken in
1899.
This would have been a valued wearable
ornament worn by an important person.
In 2007-2008 the Art Gallery of South Australia

acquisitioned a number of photographs by AW
Dobbie taken in New Guinea (Dobu Island, New
Britain, Milne Bay, Normanby Island, Thursday
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: RAMU RIVER - LOWER SEPIK
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE PORCELAIN BUTTONS

(PORTION)
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
Description.: TRUMPET TRITON SHELL CALLED

-DWOR-
Description: It is a trumpet made from a Triton
Shell and comes from Rossel Island in New
Guinea.
Previously owned by Thomas Pindi of Abeleti

Village. It was blown for big gathering of people
- like fightings against two people for a wrong
doing or quarrels against two villages foe a
wrong doing or a Patrol Officer visit to a Ward
Village to collect Local Government taxes.
These items were favourite trade items

throughout the Pacific.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: Coral Black

of Abeleti Village.
Used as a true money on Santo where it was

valued at six pigs or one wife. See Quiggin page
168
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Description.: Axeblade Stone Massim - Vapatu.
Description: PREVIOUS OWNER WAS JEROME

KAIYOBU OF JINJO VILLAGE.
AXEBLADE STONE MASSIM LARGE -VAPATU.
Also called Beku in Trobriands
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: WOVEN CANE ARMBAND
Description: See "The Torres Strait Collections

of A C Haddon by David R Moore (1984) Plate 5
#55. Almost exactly similar to that collected by
A C Haddon in 1898 and now in the Cambridge
University Museum of Archaeology &
Anthropology.
Collected by William Campbell Thomson. Born in
1855 in Glasgow, 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 and 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 collection of items from northern Qld, PNG
and Fiji. Part of the collection, left to one of his
daughters, Eulie Round, was in a house in
Caloundra, Qld, from 1935 until moved to
Brisbane decades later. This part of the
collection of over 20 items sold at Pickles
Auctions, Sydney Sept 1986.
District: Reef Islands
Village:

Honiara, Solomons.

No Picture 2
Village:

Mbakia)
Honiara, Solomons.

showing the stain.

hole to edge.


archaeologically.
District:
Village:

ORNAMENT

Solomon Islands.
No Picture 2
C No: C.1799 Acq Date:
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Manam Island
Village: Abaria Village
Description.: PENDANT -KAP KAP-

TORTOISESHELL & SHELL (damage)
Museums.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SEPIK
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE CONUS SHELLS
Description: Refer Quiggins p175, fig72
High value conus disc necklace. A true money

item.
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.
District: MALAITA
Village:
Description.: NECKLACE WITH DOG'S TEETH

Honiara, Solomons.
A money shellstring from Malaita. It consists of

money black and white shell discs with very old
Flyng Fox teeth which are also valuables and
monetary.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: ARMBAND CONUS (SECTIONED) -

not joined
Description: Part of Lawson's lot #655 (Ref
originally unpaid Lot 543 of Sotheby's Sydney
Museum, Calgary, Canada for the Museum's
1925
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: EAST SEPIK
Village: MURIK LAKES AREA
Description.: SHELL NASSA SHELL MONEY -

MAIJ-
Description: Part of Lot 105 Sothebys Sydney
November 1995. Stated in catalogue as -were
obtained from the Tyrells Curio shop on
Castlereagh Street, Sydney around 1930. Many
of these fine objects were collected by Tyrells
just after World War I. From the collection of
the late Clive Thompson1915-88. He lived in
Victoria until WWII when he served the Military
in New Guinea. On returning to Australia he
worked in the remote goldmines of Western
Australia.
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.
Over 100 years old.

District:
Village:
Description.: SHELLSTRING WHITE CONUS AND

BROWN DISC-1140MM X 5-6MM
This is a money shell string of tiny coneshell

discs. This is unusual as most shellstrings from
the Solomons are made of solid flattened shell
discs.

Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: ARMRING CONUS MWALI

one of the two items valued in the Kula trade

cycle. Called a Mwali.
Over 100 years old.

Country: NEW GUINEA
District: SEPIK
Village:
Description.: EARRING TORTOISESHELL

Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Gulf??
Village:
Description.: ARMLET WITH JOB'S TEARS

possibly Eastern Gulf
catalogue as "...were obtained from the
Tyrell''''s Curio shop on Castlereagh Street,
Sydney around 1930. Many of these fine objects
were collected by Tyrell''''s just after World War
I"
Probably a mourning decoration.
Over 100 years old.

Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Gulf??
Village:
Description.: HEADBAND WITH JOB'S TEARS

possibly Eastern Gulf
collected by Tyrell's just after World War I'
'From the collection of the late Clive
Probably a mournng decoration.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District:
Village:
Description.: BAG STRING

Country: FIJI
District:
Village:
Description.: Bowl Wooden (tanoa)
Description: See
https://helda.helsinki.fi/bitstream/handle/1013
8/40203/erasaari_dissertation.pdf?sequence=1
page 167: 2. yau ('wealth'): this category
includes mats, bark cloth as well as other
indigenous exchange items that are considered
particular pieces
traditional wealth and are hence only rarely
seen in Naloto, such as the woven fans (iri) of
Daku village; the basket (voco) characteristic of
Vugalei, the bark cloth (masi) of Vatulele or the
wooden kava bowls (tanoa) of Kabara and
Fulaga islands.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA

of Abeleti Village who obtained it from Sixtus
Tom also of Abeleti Village.
Rossel
Country: Danube Region
District:
Village:
Description.: Beads - Two Bronze Coins Holed

For Suspension
Description: Here are two beads made from
bronze coins.The larger appears to be an
ancient Macedonian coin of Philip II or
Alexander the Great.
They were probably made into beads by the

Celts from the Danube Region.
Ca. 4th Cent. BC
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: SENTANI
Description.: Glass Ring Clear
Description: Called Ebha.
Ancient and highly valued glass ring, Malayan

and Chinese traders from past centuries
brought these to New Guinea as barter object,
called OBA
No Picture 2
Country: Balkan Peninsula
District:
Village:
Description.: Bronze Spiral Bracelet - Celtic
Description: Celtic Hallstatt Culture Period - c.

1000 BC
No Picture 2
Country: Central Europe
District:
Village:
Description.: Bronze Bracelet - Celtic
Description: Celtic Hallstatt Culture Period - c.

1000 BC.
A standard item of value.
No Picture 2
District: Olbia
Village:
Description.: Bronze Dolphin "APIXO"

Inscription
Country: SCYTHIA
District:
Village: Lower Danube Area of Bulgaria

Solovyov.
guests.

into battle.


better.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Oro Province, Collingwood Bay
Village:
Description.: LIME SPATULA WOOD-ORO-

MASSIM
Description: Satulas from the Oro Province are
quite scarce.
Ex collection of Dr H Herzum, Bad Homburg,

Germany
No Picture 2
Country: Sarmatia
District: OLBIA
Village:

vicinity. Ca. 5th to 4th Cent. BC
Country: SCYTHIA
District:
Village:
Description.: ARROWHEAD MONEY WITH "X"

TAMGA
Solovyov.
guests.

into battle.


better.
Country: SCYTHIA
District:
Village:

Solovyov.
guests.

into battle.


better.
Country: SCYTHIA
District: Lower Ukraine
Village:

Solovyov.
guests.

into battle.


better.
Country: OLBIA
Description.: ARROWHEAD MONEY WITH "A"

Bronze Arrowhead Money. Used as currency
before the introduction of coins in the Eastern
Danube Region and the Black Sea area by the
Eastern Celts. Reference: SNG Black Sea 218.
The A is thought to stand for Appolonia.
No Picture 2
Country: BULGARIA
District:
Village:
Description.: Stamped Copper Sheet
Description: Struck in Bulgaria in the early

13th century based on the design of the Alexius
III billon aspron trachy, originally minted 1195-
1203. It is a small module Bulgarian imitative,
DOC IV, Type C,
A crude small example of a plate money.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Goroka
Village: Aisaro
Description.: CLUBHEAD STONE Unfinished

central hole
Description: As the central hole in the club head
seems to be unfinished, and the item is
obviously very old, it appears that it was either
an unfinished prehistoric item or an item traded
in from an outside area (Kukukuku country?)
and used as a "magic stone". This occurred with
some unfinished stone axe blades that were
used in that form as Bride Price items.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description.: LIME SPATULA CASSOWARY BONE
Description: Identified by Richard Aldridge, the

greatest expert on the area, as being from the
Gulf area. Gulf lime spatulas are listed as RARE
in the book Red Eye of the Sun by Hamson and
Aldridge.
From the important Eberhardt Voigt (1920-

1983) Collection,
Eberhardt Voigt was born on the 24 June 1920
in the town of Myslowice in Silesia, now
southern Poland, at the time the point where
the Austrian, German and Russian Empires
adjoined. When still a child he started collecting
stamps and coins, and later on in life his
passion for the arts expanded to a wide range
of fields, from Asian art to Tribal. Inspired by his
travels in the 1950s he then started building his
collection in the 1960s and early 1970s, often
buying from German galleries and auction No Picture 2
houses. He passed away in 1983.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: East Sepik
Village: MURIK LAKES AREA
Description.: SHELL NASSA SHELL MONEY -

MAIJ-
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: MASSIM
Village:
Description.: MORTAR & PESTLE-CANOE (Mortar

cum Soul Boat)
Description: In the Trobriands mortars are
called Kaipita and pestles Kaimili. They are
classified as being one of three design types -
anthropomorphic shape, drum shape and canoe
shape.
paint.
heirlooms.

No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: Mer Island
Description.: Tortoiseshell Pendant Sabagorar
Description: This item comes from the well

known collection of David Baker, previous
President of the OAS and who died in 2009.
Refer book "The Torres Strait Collections of A C

Haddon by David R Moore (1984) Illustration
Plate 36 #317. Almost exactly similar to that
collected by A C Haddon in 1898 and now in the
Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology
and Anthropology (their reference #Z7622 or
89+38. Formed part of the pendants worn by
brides and married women and recorded as
being used as part of a Bride Price. 19th
Century.
Rare and important.
An extremely rare item.

No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:
Description: Discs of conus shell were

incorprated into necklaces, wood carvings and
numerous wearable decorations. This is a
definite monetary item of the area.
No Picture 2
Country: CONGO
District:
Village: Poto People
Description.: KNIFE STEEL BLADE - Club Knife

with magic substances.
Description: This is a men's society knife of the
Poto people of the Congo and has a fur covered
pommel in which are magical substances to
protect the carrier. Similar to #353 in Fischer &
Zirngibl African Weapons.
No Picture 2
Country: Sarmatia
District: OLBIA
Village:

Country: Sarmatia
District: OLBIA
Village:

Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Huon Gulf
Village:
Description.: LIME SPATULA BONE AND WOOD

IN LIME GOURD
Description: A minor gift and minor trade item.
Ex Lawsons and also ex Dalia Stanley Auction
1993. From Garry Anderson collection with his
identification number G77A.
The spatula is serrated and is 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.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Sepik
Village:
Description.: LIME SPATULA BONE IN LIME

GOURD
1964 and 1973.
A monor trade item.
No Picture 2
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.
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
different qualities and valued accordingly. The No Picture 2
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: NEW GUINEA
District: NEW BRITAIN ISLAND
Village:
Description.: SMALL NASSA SHELL COIL ON

CANE DIWARRA
Description: Small Shell Coil also known as
Tambu Shell Currency Ring from Tolai Gazelle
Peninsula of East New Britain, Duke of York
Islands and Southern New Ireland in New
Guinea. Tabu as it is called in Tolai language
and is made fro Nassa shells coiled on cane.
Used as currency on the Gazelle Peninsula . The
shells are drilled and then strung on cane about
1 cm apart. The actual distance apart depends
on finger size but when holding one shell and
sliding it onto the cane as soon as your fingers
touch the next shell it is at its correct spacing.
The length of the strung shell strands averaged
about 6 feet with approximately 320 shells
which were then rolled into large hoops. Used
for settling disputes and payback, bartering for
produce, used for bride price as well as being
regarded as a prestige symbol, and along with
goods and cash and it was the customary No Picture 2
method of acquiring land. During a Funeral
ceremony the Tolai cut the wheel to distribute
the shell money and distribute it as a way of
showing their gratitude.
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Oro Province, Collingwood Bay
Village:
Description.: LIME SPATULA WOOD - ORO-

MASSIM
Description: Thepointed ends of the classic
harpoon shapeof this spatula actually
represents the open mouth of the wangi nuwa
bird and the item has been carved with Massim
style spirals. It is made from a dark hardwood
with a glossy patina from handling. It would
date to the 1930s 13 inches (33 cm)
No Picture 2
Country: KATANGA
Village:
Description.: CROSS COPPER MINI H 15-18mm

currency (money).
wealth and power.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

Vertebrae
Description: Collected in the 1950s.
The previous owner purchased it in the early
1990s from the collection of the missionaries of
the Holy Heart (in the Netherlands). According
to their archive/books a lot of primitive
jewellery was collected by a missionary named
Zegwaard in the end of 1958 or the beginning
of 1959. This missionary was stationed in 1958
in Agats and from there he did a lot of tours,
most of his beginning years he spent in the
(unknown) Southern part of the Asmat-area. In
November 1959 the missionaries in Holland
received a small container with Shields and
some Asmat Jewellery for their own collection
(to inform the Dutch people where and why
they were working in New Guinea). This
necklace probably came from the village of
Baous (lying south of Agats). Pendants like
these were mostly from the body of the enemy No Picture 2
and were worn by warriors to prove they were
successful headhunters. These pendants
represented a high value. Zegwaard later wrote
a lot of papers about the Asmat.
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village:

Vertebrae
Description: Probably from the collection of the
a lot of primitive jewellery was collected by a
or the beginning of 1959. This missionary was
stationed in 1958 in Agats and from there he
did a lot of tours, most of his beginning years
he spent in the (unknown) Southern part of the
Asmat-area. In November 1959 the
missionaries in Holland received a small
container with Shields and some Asmat
in New Guinea). This necklace probably came
from the village of Baous (lying south of Agats).
prove they were successful headhunters. These No Picture 2
pendants represented a high value. Zegwaard
later wrote a lot of papers about the Asmat.
This pendant is unusual in that it is not the top
vertebrae (Atlas C1 vertebrae) but a lower
bone, probably the C4 or C5 cervical vertebrae.
District: Olbia
Village:
Description.: Bronze Dolphin "OY" Inscription

Country: EASTERN CAROLINES
District:
Village:
Description.: FISHHOOK SHANK
Description: The Caroline ka muak, which

means fish-hook money, have no hooks.
In the Eastern Carolines there are the backs of

fish-hooks (without hooks) which are used as
money and are fairly similar to the breast-
ornaments called fae metmet. These are made
of the hinges of the shell and belong to an early
culture which used red shell disks and the
Conus arm-bands. However, they were still in
circulation in the Eastern Carolines, and
especially in Kusaie, in recent years.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: Kerema and Orokolo Area
Description.: Imitation Pig Tusk in Clamshell

Kerema and Orokolo area.
Curved pig tusks had a very high monetary

value in the area of the Papuan Gulf and Torres
Strait. The tusks were also very scarce and so
were imitated by the natives who carves
similarly shaped items from clamshell.
No Picture 2
Country: NEW GUINEA
Village: Kerema and Orokolo Area
Description.: Imitation Pig Tusk in Clamshell

with string and trade beads
Kerema and Orokolo area.
Curved pig tusks had a very high monetary

value in the area of the Papuan Gulf and Torres
Strait. The tusks were also very scarce and so
were imitated by the natives who carves
similarly shaped items from clamshell.
No Picture 2
Country: Australia
District: Kimberley, West Australia (probably)
Village: Aboriginal
Description.: Dentalium Shellstring
Description: Australian Aboriginal dentalium

shellstring. These have been an important
primitive money or trade item for over 30,000
years. This rare item is over 100 years old and
dates to the 19th century.
Purchased as part of Lot #105 at the Sothebys
Sydney Fine Tribal Art and Aboriginal Paintings
of 19/11/1995. Catalogue information states
that it came from Tyrells of Sydney around
1930, was probably collected about 1919 and,
since this string was quite old then, would date
to the 1800s. They have been traded by
Australian Aboriginals for 30,000 years.
Carpenters Gap I Shelter is a shelter in the
Napier Ranges of the Kimberley in Western
Australian occupied by Aborigines for a
minimum period of 40,000 years. Three
dentalium shell fragments, which are smooth at
their openings suggesting their use as beads No Picture 2
(called barrgayi by Bardi and Nyul Nyul people,
who still make necklaces from them), came
from the shelter and have been dated to about
30,000 years BP. Ten similar shell beads were
excavated from Riwi, a small shelter some
200km East of Carpenters Gap I. All are
associated with dating to about 30,000 years
BP. See Thirty Millennia of Dentalium
Shellstrings in Australia'''' by Col Davidson
at:
https://www.academia.edu/31639522/Thirty_Mi
llennia_of_Dentalium_Shellstrings_in_Australia
Country: NEW GUINEA
District: Torbriands - Massim
Village:
Description.: Pearlshell Knife - Massim - Goldlip
Description: This is a Giniuba of the Massim

people. It is, in effect, a large pearlshell knife or
spoon similar to the kayeki but larger. Carl
Thune advises that these were highly valued
Kula items on Normanby. They are also
important valuables for the internal exchanges
of the Kuau and Normanby people. Some of
these ceremonies such as marriage and
mortuary exchanges are the high points of
Duau social life, far overshadowing all other
social events including even those related to the
Kula. The Giniuba has many uses apart from
their use in ceremonial exchanges. Malinowski
advises that they were used in private magic to
scrape the body of the canoe which will make
the sea clear and enables the owner find the
valued spondylus shells.
Lepowsky also mentions its high value. The
Sudest people believe that a Giniuba can only No Picture 2
be found by a person who appeals through
magic to a dead kinsperson whose ghost may
reveal to the owner, in a dream, the specific
location of the valuable shell in the lagoon
waters. valued through much of the Kula area
as a ceremonial spoon and as a ceremonial
valuable. On Sudest it is essential in the
memorial feast called Jivia where kinspeople of
the deceased are ritually fed by mourning in-
laws.
On Sudest, sea-witches spirits have been known
to use them to cut off the lips of sailors so they
will talk like dogs and be unable to find their
way home.

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Col Davidson Collection Part 2

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The Primitive Money Collection of Col Davidson

Primitive and Money Substitutes.

All the best to you and yours,

Description.: NOSE ORNAMENT BONE ASMAT

Description.: NOSE ORNAMENT BONE ASMAT

Description: Collected by Todd Barlin.

Description.: NOSE ORNAMENT BONE ASMAT

Village: YAPEN ISLAND WEST

Description.: ARMRING CONUS CALLED

Village: YAPEN ISLAND WEST

Description.: ARMRING CONUS CALLED

Village: YAPEN ISLAND WEST

Description.: ARMRING CONUS CALLED

Village: YAPEN ISLAND WEST

Description.: ARMRING CONUS CALLED

Village: YAPEN ISLAND WEST

Description.: ARMRING CONUS CALLED

Village: BARAPASI VILLAGE UPPER WAROPEN

Description.: ARMBAND OF BEADS

Description: Collected by Todd Barlin.

Village: SALKAGU VILLAGE

Description.: STONE MONEY -JE-

Description: Collected by Todd Barlin.

Village: URFUSEI VILLAGE

Description.: EARRING GLASS

Description: Collected by Todd Barlin.

Village: NORTH COAST

Description.: BEADS (MANY)

Description: Collected by Todd Barlin.Money

Description.: PEARLSHELL KNIFE - MASSIM -

Description.: LIME CONTAINER GOURD -

Description.: SHELL RED GROUND - MASSIM

Description: This is the spondylus shell used to

I obtained this from a Rossel Island native

The shell has been ground down ready to be

Village: ABELETI VILLAGE

Description.: AXEBLADE STONE MASSIM -

Description.: PEARLSHELL GRATER

Description: The shell comes from a reef around

Description.: SHELL SCRAPER COWRIE

Description: Called Ngebi.

Previously owned by Thomas Pindi of Abeleti

A useful tool valued in minor exchanges and gift

Village: ABELETI VILLAGE

Description.: NKO (KE-KAO) -GEMIDA-

Description: Made by the god Wonajo before

Description.: PEARLSHELL KNIFE

Description: On Sudest Island there is a custom

Description.: SHELLROPE COWRIE

Description: Collected by Colin Barron, Lae.

A true money throughout most of New Guinea.

Description.: SHELLSTRING -VULA-

Description: Obtained by Colin Barron, Lae, New

The Kaliai women make the shellstring called

This example is probably what is called 'black'

See Opitz pages 362-363.

Description.: SHELL MELO BAILER FOREHEAD

In the Highlands, bailer shell was of high value.

It was used for ceremonial exchange, life-cycle

Called Kokla raem (tam in Teboka).

It was worn by boys, women and girls. Both

Description.: HEADBAND OLIVE SHELLS

Description: Collected by Colin Barron.

Description.: BELT COWRIE