the shell of a mollusc that was widely available in the shallow waters of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, was in China. Historically, many societies have used cowries as money, and even as recently ...

The cowrie, a type of marine snail, has very colourful shells which were used as money. It seems that it wasn’t just the colours that made the shell appealing - its small size and durability ...

Their relevance also sate beyond being used as money. They even represented power in trade: Europeans in the 16th century used cowries to enter African trade markets. Shells were used to purchase ...

And what exactly money has looked like and how it's functioned have changed radically over the centuries. While people once ...

Our special video series looks at some of the more unique shells at the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum on Sanibel, ...

Natural cowry shells originally served this function. Around the eighth century BC replica spades and knives began to appear reflecting the region of their origin - knife money developed in areas ...

A live cowry. Money Cowry shells collected after the molluscs inside have died Pic courtesy www.underwaterkwaj.com For an explanation of the game of Panchi, we need look no further than the novel: ...