4135

Rossel Island Money Collection

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:300.00 USD Estimated At:NA
Rossel Island Money Collection
SOLD
300.00USD+ buyer's premium (60.00)
This item SOLD at 2021 Mar 12 @ 11:30UTC-8 : PST/AKDT
Lot: 4135
Header:
Title: Rossel Island Money Collection
Description: The currency of Rossel Island, some 200 miles southeast of New Guinea, is absolutely unique. It was the subject of a study, "Rossel Island Money," by W.E. Armstrong in 1924. For the islanders used colorful seashells—such as could be picked up on the beach—as their principal money. But not just any seashell; the stock of money seashells was virtually unchanging from time immemorial, and each shell had a particular value in relation to all the others. There were two kinds of money, ndap and nkö: ndap consists of spondylus shells, ground to a triangular shape and polished, and the higher values were individually named! All ndap is very rare.
This lot consists of seven of the 22 grades of ndap money, neatly mounted, with captions giving provenance—in these cases the actual name of the previous Rossel Islander. See Quiggin, pp. 183-86, color plate, and Pl. 18, and Opitz, pp. 236-37.
Low Estimate: 700
High Estimate: 2000
Pedigree Collection: