When we think of money, we think of coins and paper bills. That is what money is today. But in the past, people used many think as money. Some countries used cows,salt,tea,or butter. Other countries used feather or stones.
People on the island of santa Cruz in the Pacific Ocean used feather money. The made this money from small red feathers. They stuck the feather together to make a string. The string could be up to thirty-two feet long. They used this money to pay for a marriage or to buy a boat.
The island of Yap in the Pacific Ocaen is a place where people used and still use the heaviest money in the world: Yap stones. These are round white stones with a hole in the middle. The Yap stones do not come form the island. The Yap men have to go to islands 400 miles away to get them. They work the stones to make them round and then make a hole in the middle. They put a pole through the hole so that more than one person can carry the stones. Big stones can be twelve feet high-as big as two tall men. They can weihg more than one ton. Small stones are as big as dinner plates. Rich people do not carry the Yap stones. Servants follow the rich people. Each servant carries a stone on a pole over his shoulder. Today people on the island use paper money for everyday shopping. But for other things they still prefer Yap stones.