4126

Enormous Shell Ring Money

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:500.00 USD Estimated At:NA
Enormous Shell Ring Money
Lot: 4126
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Title: Enormous Shell Ring Money
Description: On Choiseul Island, huge shell rings called maulavata are used as money. They are said to have all been made by a foreigner named Pongo, who settled on nearby Nuatabu Island. This example is 11 inches in diameter, 3 ½ inches thick, with a hole 3 ½ inches in diameter; it was ground from both sides by hand. See Opitz, pp. 218-19; illustrated in NNP edition, https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/541824, p. 351.
Low Estimate: 1000
High Estimate: 2000
Pedigree Collection: Purchased from a native in Honiara, Solomon Islands, when there in 1995.