Stones of Paradise

The size of the stones is very different: the largest have a diameter of up to 3.6 meters, a thickness of up to 0.33 meters and weigh 4 tons. The smallest of heaven have a diameter of 7-8 centimeters. The largest disk in the Yap archipelago is located on Rumung Island, adjacent to Yap. ^[5]

A two-meter-diameter Paradise stone is installed in the conservatory hall of the Bank of Canada's main building in Ottawa , Ontario , Canada, in front of the Currency Museum. .

The cost of paradise depends not only on the size, material and workmanship, but also on its history. If someone died during the manufacture or transportation of paradise, the value of the stone increased ^[6] . The loss of stone at the bottom of the sea did not impede its circulation in financial relations, but only affected the description of its approximate location.

According to the Japanese legend, the explorer Anagumang went on an expedition in search of a stone suitable for making money, discovered it in Palau and returned with the first stone coin. Aragonite and calcite were absent on Yap, and therefore proved to be valuable material. Initially, Anagumang ordered his people to carve a stone in the shape of a fish, but was not satisfied. The next tested form was a crescent, but finally settled on a stone in the shape of a "full moon" with a hole in the middle for easy transportation using a wooden pole. ^[7] The inhabitants of Palau in exchange asked for beads , coconuts , copra .

It is not known how long stone money has been used on Yap. The oldest flat stones discovered are around 2000 years old, however, they are not like modern paradises and it is not clear whether they were used as a currency. There is evidence that the first trips of the inhabitants of Yap to Palau for aragonite could take place about 500 years, but large-scale mining and transportation arose later, between 1000 and 1400 years. The first stone money had a relatively small diameter, about 7-8 centimeters.

Later, at the end of the 19th century , Europeans exchanged trepangi and copra valuable for the Far East for the stones of Paradise. They also supplied the Yapes with iron tools, thereby causing inflation . During World War II, the islands were captured by the Japanese Empire . The Japanese sometimes used Paradise stones as a building material, or as anchors .

In 1929, the Japanese administration counted 13,281 coins on the island. ^[8]

Despite the fact that nowadays modern money has replaced the stones of Paradise as the current monetary unit, they are valued as traditional symbols of wealth and are still used.

Rai stones are the national symbol of the Federated States of Micronesia , and are also featured in local car numbers .

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• Yap: island of giant stone money
• Yap on the blog of Artemy Lebedev