Title: Lost forms of money
Description: 'Women, pigs and shells' is the title of the first book. It makes clear what being wealthy was all about in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. A man needed a woman to raise his pigs. He needed pigs to buy shells or kina and he needed kina to be able to pay the dowry for his wife. The first book focuses on the lost forms of money of Africa, Oceania and Asia. It is a 400 page book with lots of photos of the items but also of the usage of the items, taken by travellers in the region. 'Your mother was just an egg' is the title of the second book. It was derived from an Ashanti-saying: Cock, don't have such a big mouth, your mother was just an egg!! The Ashanti paid for their transactions in gold and weighed the gold with special weights, often related to such a saying. In this case the weight is of course a small cock. The second book focuses on lost forms of money from America and Europe, grave gifts and (money- )weights.
Subjects: Money, Dowry, Bride price, Goldweights, Wealth, History
Places: Papua New Guinea, Oceania, Africa