Money's Complex Criteria

Coconut decay highlights the need for durability in money, which stone money provides. While stone money lacks a clear unit of account—specific values are not generally assigned to goods in stones—some stones are valued based on size or historical significance. Thus, it receives a partial affirmation for this criterion. As a medium of exchange, stone money is identifiable and durable, but it fails on divisibility since large stones cannot be split into smaller denominations without losing their value, and they are not portable due to their significant weight. Overall, stone money meets some aspects of money's definition but also presents substantial limitations.