4046

Shell Money to Buy Pigs or Canoes]

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:200.00 USD Estimated At:NA
Shell Money to Buy Pigs or Canoes]
SOLD
200.00USD+ (40.00) buyer's premium + applicable fees & taxes.
This item SOLD at 2021 Mar 23 @ 11:21UTC-8 : PST/AKDT
Lot: 4046
Header:
Title: (b)Shell Money to Buy Pigs or Canoes(/b)]
Description: Mikak, a huge baler shell formed into a spoon shape and with smaller shell pieces attached to a fabric loop decorated with nassa shells; illustrated in Opitz, p. 222, center; it was worn just under the chin. In the Trobriand Islands a mikak would purchase a large pig. Also an mwali, a major valuable of the Kula cycle, originally an elaborate arm ring; its value was determined by how high up a man's arm it could be worn. In 1970 a canoe was sold for a single mwali. See Opitz, pp. 233-34.
Low Estimate: 550
High Estimate: 800
Pedigree Collection: Mwali purchased from natives in the Trobriands when there in 1995.