Cowrie made of Shell - Museum Gallery

June 2026

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It was inevitable that cowry forms would be made of other types of shell. This appears to be a piece of mother-of-pearl type shell that may come from an abalone shell. These appear to be a scarcer type and are not seen often. These type of imitation cowries are mentioned in archeological records notably by Nishimura & Gibson. Theirs was discovered in Yin-hsu in An-Yang, it was made of fresh water mollusk; this one is probably salt-water.
37 x 25 x 3 mm

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 ]