Shell Exchange valuable, Africa. 0000.999.75834

Canonical URI: http://numismatics.org/collection/0000.999.75834

Download full resolution image

Obverse: Shell teeth

Reverse: dorsal side ground flat

Physical Description

Axis: 0
Measurements
- Weight (in gr.): 48.97
Shape: Bracelet

Typological Description

Object Type: Exchange valuable
Material: Shell
Geographic
- Region: Africa
Obverse
- Type: Shell teeth
Reverse
- Type: dorsal side ground flat

References

Reference: Primitive Money, P Einzig, pp.130
Reference: Survey of Primitive Money, A Hingston Quiggin, pp.27
Reference: Odd and Curious Money, C J. Opitz, pp.37

Administrative History

Identifier: 0000.999.75834
Department: Modern
Collection: American Numismatic Society

Notes

String of 39 cowry shells. The most common species of Cowry (Cypraea Moneta) is native to the Maldive Islands in the Indian Ocean, and its shell was used as money in many parts of Africa and Southern Asia.

Rights

CopyrightHolder: American Numismatic Society
License: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) (images)
Rights: Copyright Undetermined

Powered by Numishare
All images of objects produced on or before 1925 are in the Public Domain. Others are available for Non-Commercial purposes. Policy.
All data are made freely available with an Open Database License.

©2024 American Numismatic Society | Privacy Policy
To report a mistake, error or malfunction in the collection database please email database@numismatics.org.
Present and future work on Mantis is only possible with the help of the generous gifts of its users.