Rai Stones

money · Pacific islands · archaeology

Stone currency. Rai stones are giant circular discs made of limestone that the Yapese people used as money. Each stone had a hole in the center, and they were carved from stone found on other islands and brought to Yap.

Made on Yap. The Yapese people didn't create rai stones just once, they manufactured them over many centuries. Families would own these stones and pass them down as treasured wealth through generations.

Value in knowing. What made rai stones so special was that everyone agreed on their value, even though they were too heavy to carry around. People would trade them, give them as gifts, and use them to pay for important things, but the stones often just stayed in one place.

Huge and heavy. Some rai stones were enormous, weighing several tons and measuring many feet across. The biggest and oldest stones were considered the most valuable, even if no one had seen them in years.

Yap's treasure. The people of Yap Island in Micronesia created this unique form of money that worked differently than any other currency in the world. Even today, some rai stones still stand in villages as symbols of Yapese heritage and history.