On the North-west coast an article of great importance and value is the “copper.” In former days these coppers were made of native metal obtained from the mines of that region, and they must have been made by cold hammering in the way that Cushing describes. To-day they are made of metal obtained from the whites. The coppers are thin plates of a peculiar shape; the nearest common thing that they resemble is a gauntleted glove with the fingers cut off and with the gauntlet the top. Across the wrist runs a ridge from one side to the other, and from the middle of this another ridge extends downward to the bottom, thus making with the first the shape of a letter T below the flaring part. “The top is called the face,” says Boas in his valuable and interesting account of the Kwakiutls, “the lower part the hind end. The front of the copper is covered with black lead, in which a face representing the crest animal (totem) of the owner is graven. These coppers have the same function which bank notes of high denominations have with us. The actual value of the piece of copper is small but it is made to represent a large number of blankets, and can always be sold for blankets. A white blanket at fifty cents is the unit. The value is not arbitrarily set but depends upon the amount of property given away in the festival at which the copper is sold. The oftener a copper is sold the higher its value.”[262] Every copper has its own special name, representing its peerless quality, or an animal; as, the killer whale, the bear face, beaver face, etc. As ability to destroy valuable property amongst these people distinguishes the great and wealthy, these valuable coppers are demolished piecemeal till only the portion with the T upon it remains. Sometimes all the fragments are bought up by another person, who rivets them together and the copper then has a greater price than ever. A broken copper is a more important piece of property than a whole one, because the possession of it shows that its owner is rich enough to destroy property. These plates are in use from Yakutat to Comox. Sometimes a copper is cast into the sea. [Illustration: HOLLOW SILVER BEADS OF NAVAJO MAKE, ARIZONA]