Rai Stone
notes: label: Description
content: This stone ring called a <i>rai</i> (ray) weighs 112 pounds. It’s from the island of Yap in the Pacific Ocean. <i>Rai</i> ranged in size from a couple inches to the size of a large car.
label: Description
content: <i>Rai</i> don’t work like the money in your pocket does. <i>Rai</i> were only used for <i>special</i> kinds of payments, such as wedding gifts. Very heavy <i>rai</i> did not move around the island even after they changed owners. For hundreds of years, people on the island of Yap have displayed the stone <i>rai</i> at their homes. They show a family’s importance in the island community.
label: Description
content: <i>Rai</i> are made of a stone found on the island of Palau, 280 miles away from Yap. This stone broke when it was moved from one location to another, before the Smithsonian received it.
place: label: place made
content: Federated States of Micronesia: Yap, Yap
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: National Numismatic Collection
label: Exhibition
content: Really BIG Money
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: William C. Moore
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: NU.72.172.1
label: catalog number
content: 72.172.1
label: accession number
content: 303400
objectType: label: Object Name
content: alternative currency
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: stone (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 11 cm x 60 cm; 4 11/32 in x 23 5/8 in