Moneta Gallery Coin Museum



Users 22,507
Photos 3,383
Comments 351
Views 16,408,941
Disk Space 346.6mb

SunMon TueWed ThuFri Sat
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031    

Moneta 2454
Zantetsuken 293
Chinacash 170
stretrader99z 133
numismatist6 100

Bronze_Ring-Cowrie.jpg
CHINA - Bronze Ring
Moneta

[ Archaic: Imitation Cowries ]
Bronze-cowrie.jpg
China - Bronze Cowri
Moneta

[ Archaic: Imitation Cowries ]
C_Moneta_lead_2.jpg
CHINA or Thailand -
Moneta

[ Archaic: Imitation Cowries ]
Bronze_Grate_Cowrie.jpg
China - Bronze 'Grat
Moneta

[ Archaic: Imitation Cowries ]
White_Jade_Cowrie.jpg
China - Jade or Calc
Moneta

[ Archaic: Imitation Cowries ]
Wood.jpg
CHINA - Ancient Wood
Moneta

[ Archaic: Imitation Cowries ]
· more ·

 

« Previous image · Next image »

Lead-Cowries-Sm_Med
China or Thailand - Lead Cowries, medium & small

« Previous image  · Slide Show · Next image »

Moneta



Registered: August 2005
Location: Arizona USA
Posts: 2,365
users gallery
The Opitz Collection of imitation cowries presented here contained several lead cowries that were great copies of Cypraea Moneta types, including the detail of shoulders and bumps. Three are a large size and two more are smaller ones, one of those being a middle size, these are them. Much like the obols and staters of the ancient Greek world. An example of one of the three large lead cowries is presented here in this section of the Moneta Museum too. The medium sized one is 16 x 13 x 8 mm at 8.34g; the small one is 14 x 10 x 6 mm at 4.50 g.
I was the lucky winner in Kagin's Auction (Mar 2021) Lot# 4233. It consisted of 19 examples that were previously in the Nate S Shapiro Collection and displayed at the Detroit Money Museum. These were acquired before 1960 but were sold when the Museum closed (~1992). In ancient China cowrie seashells (Cypraea Moneta & C. Annulus) were so valuable that imitations were made to serve as money and grave items.
Info from a Steve Album Auction (9/2021): lead cowries from Northern Thailand, weighing 22.46g, 8.32g, and 4.60g. These detailed lead alloy cowries ("pee") have been called tokens, or burial pieces, but specimens always cluster around weights of 4.7, 8.2, and 25 grams at roughly a 1:2:6 ratio, indicating a denomination sequence.
All of the number tags, unfortunately glued to most of the specimens in the museum collection, are a characteristic of all Charles Opitz collection pieces.


Moneta Library has articles on Cowries to VIEW and DOWNLOAD:
The Worlds's First Money, Chinese Cowries and Their Imitations - by Ted Puls: [ link ]
Cowries - Bob Reis: [ link ]
Origin of Cowries in Ancient China - UofPa: [ link ]
Metallic Cowries - Royal Asiatic Society: [ link ]
Nice Video on Cowrie history: [ link ]
An excellent article in ANA's "Numismatist" magazine, Oct 2017 > [ link ]
SEE how far back in time decorative sea shells were important to prehistoric man at his : [ link ]
Interested in Primitive Money? Then check out this YouTube video created by Kagins Auctions featuring Bob Leonard and Charles Opitz upon the massive sale in March 2021. Click this: [ link ]
· Date: May 29, 2021 · Views: 954 · Filesize: 137.4kb · Dimensions: 900 x 387 ·
Keywords: China Lead Cowries medium & small

White_Jade_Cowrie.jpg
White_Stone_Cowrie.jpg
Oval_Lead_Cowrie-Sm.jpg
Oval_Lead_Cowrie-Lg.jpg
Clay_Cowrie1.jpg
Bronze_Grate_Cowrie.jpg
Lead-Cowries-Sm_Med.jpg
C_Moneta_lead_2.jpg
Bronze_Ring-Cowrie.jpg
Bone_x3.jpg
Mother-of-Pearl.jpg
Bronze-cowrie.jpg
Wood.jpg
Jadeite2_ob.jpg


Photo Sharing Gallery by PhotoPost
Copyright © 2007 All Enthusiast, Inc.

No portion of this page, text, images or code, may be copied, reproduced, published or distributed in any medium without the expressed written permission of the copyright holder.