Small cowrie shells were used as money in many parts of the world. They were known to be used in ancient China and in parts of Africa up to the last century.
The money cowry is native to the Indian and Pacific oceans, with an extremely high population in the waters around the Maldive Islands, just southwest of India. At one point, because of the closeness to this valuable natural resource, a whole sea-shell industry was born on the Maldives. Men, women, and children were all engaged to collect and prepare the shells for trade. First of all woven mats made of coconut tree branches were placed on the surface of the water. Baby mollusks gathered on the mats and later the mats were taken out of the water to dry. After drying, the shells were polished, graded, and exported, mostly from Bengal which was a major trade hub at the time.
Depending on the place of trade, cowry shells were either hung on strings to be valued separately, or loaded in buckets to be sold in larger quantities. In Bengal, for example, sea shell payments were made with baskets full of shells. Each basket contained around 12,000 cowry shells.
Credit : The vintage news
Picture Credit : Google
