Invention of Money-Tyson Still

Posted on January 19, 2012 by stillt27

Reading the story about Yap makes me understand that money back then was more valuable than it is now. What had caught my interest while reading the story “The Island Of Stone Money”, was how they left the stone, which represented money, so big instead of breaking off pieces to give to people. I take it that belief played a big role in that part. Personally in today’s time leaving your money on the side of your house is the easiest way to get it stolen. That could also be a reason why they left the stone so big, where no one would be able to take it. The reason why I believe money was more valuable in their time is because today people lose or throw away money and have no type of feeling about it. We believe that money is valuable but we don’t appreciate it the way they did. The faith they had about money back then was phenomenal. I couldn’t believe that I’m rich  from money that I have never seen. That was the case in the story where the crew had to cut the stone free off of their raft in order to survive the storm they ran into. As they got back to the island they told the people about the stone and they were considered rich and whoever came with that family. My faith is a little different than theirs, I have faith that things will happen to me, or faith that better things will come to me. Not faith that I have something that I can’t see or that isn’t with me. But the story of Yap really is interesting because money does represent something. Today a dollar represents a dollar. Not one-hundred dollars but a dollar. In their time the stone was enough to buy a house or some type of object in that nature.The value that they put on the stone was what they believed in. It gave them the rights or to be the owner over something without moving the money or stone. Faith is a big thing in the world in today’s time and in history. What you believe in is what you believe in and you will hold to your belief no matter what just like in the story as they held on that the value of the stone was worthy and gave them power over things they wanted. That’s why it is called your faith.

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1 Response to Invention of Money-Tyson Still

  1. davidbdale's avatar davidbdale says:
    January 24, 2012 at 12:09 pm

    Tyson, you start with an intriguing claim: that fei were more valuable that today’s currency. I’m very curious to know what you mean by that.

    The source material did indicate that not all fei were enormous and that smaller fei were used for smaller transactions. Presumably also the Yap could still barter items and services, so the big fei were partly status, partly wealth, mostly useful for buying houses and boats.

    I have no idea what “I take it that belief played a big role in that part” means.

    Stealing a big fei would be pretty meaningless if wealth didn’t require physical possession of the fei, don’t you think? You could roll away my fei, but if the Yap recognized it as mine, you’d just end up in jail (if they had a jail), or maybe at the bottom of the ocean with the biggest fei of all!

    Your delayed explanation of why money was more valuable to the Yap turns out to mean something I didn’t expect. You don’t mean it’s worth more; you mean they valued it more. You mean that we’re more casual about it because we don’t see it, I guess. But what’s your evidence for that? I don’t see how you’re measuring appreciation.

    If anything, the faith the Yap showed wasn’t about the rock. Their willingness to accept the testimony of other Yap was remarkable and admirable. Their willingness to trust one another to keep track of who owned what fei is astounding. The trust in one another is just as invisible as the rock in the ocean, but it’s not a faith in the coins, do you think? It’s a faith in the Yap for the Yap.

    I have no idea what you mean by “a dollar represents a dollar.” In the same way a fei represented the ability to buy a house, the dollar represents the ability to buy a pack of chips, don’t you think? I’m unclear about the difference.

    Our dollars today are almost purely instruments of faith, I think, Tyson. On Yap they would have been useless because the Yap would not have traded for them. But here Wawa accepts them because Citgo accepts them out of faith that Citibank will accept them.

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