40030

"Big Man" Status Symbol

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:10.00 USD Estimated At:200.00 - 350.00 USD
 Big Man  Status Symbol
SOLD
60.00USD+ buyer's premium (12.00)
This item SOLD at 2021 Mar 16 @ 07:31UTC-7 : PDT/MST

Lot: 40030
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Title: "Big Man" Status Symbol
Description: A Papua New Guinea status symbol was an omak, a row of short bamboo sticks suspended from a cord and worn around the neck. Each stick represented an amount of wealth in pigs, shells, axes, etc., to be given with the expectation that they would be repaid at a future ceremony; wearing an omak marked one as a "big man." Not currency itself, but a record of wealth in primitive money. This omak is a foot long and has 41 bamboo sticks. See Opitz, p. 245 (illustrated, left, second from top).
Low Estimate: 200
High Estimate: 350
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