CURRENCY, PRIMITIVE. Among peoples of primitive culture is found a strange diversity of objects commonly termed "money" or "currency." These are of two main kinds, one corn prising articles of practical use, the other those of which the pri mary purpose is ornament. The rock-salt of Abyssinia, the hoes of the Dinka and Shilluk of the upper Nile, the iron and cloth of cen tral and west Africa, the brilliant red feather bands of Santa Cruz, the dentalium shell strings of California and British Columbia, the wampum of the eastern American tribes, the tridacna-shell armlets and large stone axe-blades of eastern New Guinea, the sperm-whale teeth of Fiji and the fe or "millstone money" of the Caroline islands have all been termed "money." Certain of these things are currency in the true economic sense; others have been dubbed so through loose definition of terms and use.
Well known among "native money" are the strings of shell disks so characteristic of the Melanesian islands, as the diwara of New Britain, the rongo of Malaita or the sapisapi of East New Guinea. Much work is involved in their manufacture, and their value varies according to their length and colour. Red disks are worth more than white, the shell from which they are obtained being more rare. These strings, whether in coils or made up into neck laces, form most important items of wealth to the native, and pass freely from hand to hand in settlement of social obligations.
But according to precise terminology such objects can hardly be correctly described as currency or money. In any economic sys tem, however primitive, an article can only be regarded as true money when it acts as a definite and common medium of exchange, as a convenient stepping-stone in obtaining one type of goods for another. Moreover, in so doing it serves as a measure of values, allowing the worth of all other articles to be expressed in terms of itself. Again, it is a standard of value with reference to past or future payments, while as a store of value it allows wealth to be condensed and held in reserve. Strings of shell disks and similar articles are certainly a form of condensed wealth, and act as a store of value. But they do not consistently perform any other function of money. They may pay for canoes or be traded against one another, but they do not facilitate every-day exchanges, as those of food or implements, nor are market values of other com modities expressed in them. The use of such articles is largely ceremonial; individual pieces often have names and unique his tories, and are connected with the fortune of special persons and clans. In general, the economic system of the Pacific island native, considered apart from the effects of white contact, has not been shown capable of accommodating and utilizing a fully-fledged cir culating medium in its system of production and exchange ; refer ences to native "money" or "currency" therefore cannot be accepted at face value.
With African tribes the case is different. The use of hoes or cattle as true money is dubious, but it is clear that such objects as iron bars (often in the form of conventionalized spear-heads or knives), cowrie-shells, salt and cloth serve as definite media of exchange and as common measures, standards and stores of value. This may be due to external influence, particularly to that of Arab traders. The cowrie (Cypraea moneta) is one of the most striking forms of native currency. Ranging in west Africa from the Sahara to the Gulf of Benin, taking in the whole basin of the Niger-Benue, and including also the upper Congo-Lualaba area, its economic sphere centres especially in Timbuctu, the district of the middle Niger, and the country around Lake Tchad. Sometimes the shells are strung on a cord, sometimes kept loose in a leather bag, and transactions of all kinds, from simple village marketing to buying and selling on a large scale, are accomplished through this medium. In recent times the cowrie has often served as the small change for a European currency.
With the change in economic conditions and ideas consequent upon the arrival of the white man, objects previously not em ployed as actual currency may begin to extend their function and assume that position.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.-W. Ridgeway, Origin of Metallic Currency (1892) ; Bibliography.-W. Ridgeway, Origin of Metallic Currency (1892) ; H. Schurtz, Grundriss der Entstehungsgeschichte des Geldes (1898) ; R. C. Temple, "Beginnings of Currency," Journal Royal Anthrop. Inst., xxix. (1899) ; R. Thilenius, "Primitives Geld," Archiv f. Anthrop. N.F. 18 (1921) ; B. Malinowski, "Primitive Economics," Economic Journal (1921) ; M. Mauss, "Essai sur le Don," L'Annee Sociologique (1923-24) ; W. E. Armstrong, "Rossell Island Money," Economic Journal (1924) . F.)