Yap already had a bank​—the stone-money bank. For ages its culture had used huge stone wheels for currency. So large are they that no vault is needed to store and protect them. Instead, they are propped against walls and trees alongside a road outside of Colonia. Quarried in the islands of Belau, southwest of Yap, their value was determined by how difficult it was to obtain them and bring them to Yap by small boats. The stone money is never moved. Everyone is familiar with each piece and its history. Ownership (but not the actual stone) is transferred from family to family as land or goods are purchased.

[Picture on page 5]

The stone money of Yap can be seen outside this house