The Cowry Shell: An History Lesson of an Ancient Money
The Cowry shell was part of an ancient monetary system based on sea shells used on nearly every continent! In the modern day it is difficult to imagine this as now most of our transactions are completely digital.
Imagine explaining a bitcoin to a member of ancient civilizations ( or even your parents!) when what they used as money looked like this:
https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/01/21/cowry-shell-coins/
Read more about the history of the Cowry shell in this article: https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/01/21/cowry-shell-coins/
In summary, the cowry shell worked as a form of money because it had many of the characteristics that money needs. The shells are durable and portable, easily recognizable, and because of their unique nature they are hard to counterfeit.
Thousands of years ago there was massive international demand for these cowry shells. For large transactions you might make a purchase with say.... a basket of 12,000 cowry shells.
Some researchers even say that the cowry shell is the OLDEST form of money, originating in ancient China. It is fascinating to think that “consensus” could be found with these cowry shells
From the article :
“It is obvious that shells were used as money and that they did the job pretty well, but one question remains: how did people determine their true value in comparison to other goods? Well, it is quite simple. Their value was determined by the law of supply and demand which lies at the foundation of economy as a science. The farther the place was from the source of cowries or a big trade center, the bigger value the cowry carried. This meant that in some places where it was valued more, you could buy a cow for only one cowry, while in other places, where the shells were more abundant, one cowry had no value. In the Maldives, for example, a person needed thousands of shells to exchange them for only one gold coin.”
Did you catch that? Even though cowry shells were so valuable, people still traded them for ... GOLD:
History buffs should already know about cowry shells and their huge part in the early monetary systems. Just check out these old drawings:
1742 drawing of shells of the money cowry, Cypraea moneta
Do you have a historian in your family? Is your dad a history teacher? Is your dad @slowwalker?
Your history afficiado loved one would probably LOVE one of these 24 karat gold Cowry Shell Charms for it’s timeless design and ancient significance :
Father’s Day is 7 business days away!
Sign up for Menē for free in 30 seconds and receive $5 in Menē credit instantly here:
Menē crafts 24 karat gold and platinum investment jewelry™ that is transparently sold by gram weight. By combining innovative technology with timeless design, Menē restores the ancient tradition of jewelry as a store of enduring value.
To find out more about what Menē 24 karat gold and platinum investment jewelry is from your fellow Steemians :
https://steemit.com/steemit/@goldmatters/what-in-the-world-is-mene24k-35-well-researched-blog-style-essays-contest-winners
Or
https://steemit.com/mene24k/@goldmatters/what-is-mene-24-karat-platinum-and-gold-jewelry-valentine-s-day-gift-winner
To find out more about what Goldmoney is from your fellow Steemians : https://steemit.com/contest/@goldmatters/what-in-the-world-s-goldmoney-winners
To sign up for a Goldmoney Holding start here: https://www.goldmoney.com/w/goldmatters
For Menē 24k investment jewelry here: http://Mene.com/invite/JrT26p
I am on a personal mission to spread the word about Goldmoney and Menē through any means necessary. Goldmoney allows individuals to empower themselves by protecting their savings by owning small or large amounts gold previously inaccessible to regular people like you and me.
All images sourced from Menē and Goldmoney.
Read more about Goldmoney: https://steemit.com/@goldmatters
See Steemit Legend @karensuestudios unbox Menē!
I love how I seem to learn something new from each of your posts!
Growing up, I remember getting into my mom's jewelry and she had one very long necklace made with 2 rows of these cowrie shells. It would hang to my knees, so it was obviously meant to loop around one's neck a couple times.
Anyway, my parents are from the Azores islands. The Portuguese we're some key players in early exploration and trade routes. Now I want to go ask them if that necklace that I used to tinker with has a backstory!
Thank you @crowbarmama!! That’s really interesting ! Its great to here real life examples of the use of Cowrie shells. I wonder if my mom has some. Ill have to ask her:)
Very cool 😎 I cast one in silver a while back 👍
No way!! Super cool!
love that!
Nice blog post. I would like to also add that the term "shelling out" or I had to "shell out" when paying a bill comes from these cowry shells. It is kind of funny how we keep using the phrase when most people don't know where the terminology originates from. Cowry shells, shelling out.
Thats super interesting ! I did not know that! Thanks gmh
When I had first read about the phrase's origin it surprised me, more so that I use that phrase on occasion yet had no clue of the origin. Cheers gmh.
Whoa that's a cool random fact @goldismoney
Thanks @nomadicsoul :))
Good research at @goldmatters cowry is the olden exchange money when eyes is still close. I have heard many story about the cowries during our great great grand fathers days how it serve them has a means of exchange. Thanks to #mene for bring it back to precious thing as before.
I love #mene24k gold cowries hand chain...
That is interesting! A first hand account
Hi Goldmatters. Nice to learn something. Cowry mene makes sense now. I know some people are superstitious about keeping shells.
I didnt know that lol
Nice piece. The use of Cowries as currency might have originated from China, but it was widely used in all continents of the world, especially here in Africa, even before colonization. So it was an instinct man that directed him to use such durable material like Cowries as money.
Gold has that durable nature also, and if durability has always been the main quality for money even before civilization, then gold is surely going to remain a reliable store of wealth even when others fade away.
Am sure going to get a mene jewelry for my mum this Father's day since dad is in heaven. Happy Father's day in advance.
That is very interesting!! Thank you for that knowledge
Man, it would suck if cowry shells were your only money and you lived in a desert with no ocean nearby! Or if you lived in the midwest. You'd be broke :(
Thats why they ended up using VANG
Strange information I have never seen before
Truly every civilization has things that differ from other civilizations
Featured article😊
Hello q0 guys, you can check my posts i post quality post that will might interest you
THANK YOU ALL FOR your supports, God bless.
Great
You got a 5.18% upvote from @postpromoter courtesy of @goldmatters!
Want to promote your posts too? Check out the Steem Bot Tracker website for more info. If you would like to support the development of @postpromoter and the bot tracker please vote for @yabapmatt for witness!