Overview
Brief Summary
Historical importance
Ecology
Local Distribution and Habitats
Biogeographical Distribution
Life History
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Cyclicity
Evolution & Systematics
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Morphology and Physiology
External Morphology
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Wikipedia
References & More Information
Bibliographies | Historical Importance
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The trading and use of cowry shells around the world has a rich and diverse history. They were originally sourced from the Maldive Islands, but were also found in the tropical waters of the Pacific and Indian Oceans (Harms 1987). China and India were reported to use cowrie currency in the seventh century B.C and they were also carried across the desert from Egypt and the Maghrib into West Africa, and became a standard currency of business transactions in the Mali Empire in the fourteenth century. In West Africa they became the shell money of the slave trade. In the 1480s, the Portugese arrived in the Gulf of Guinea to discover the circulation of cowrie currency (Harms 1987). The Portugese then dominated the trade until the mid-seventeeth century, when the English joined the trade buying Maldivian cowries and expanding its use throughout Europe. In 1840, the industry had reached its peak and subsequently diminished. The decline of the trade came about due to hyper-inflation and was later banned by colonial officials who refused to accept them as tax payment (Harms 1987). During the depression in the 1930s there was a brief resurgence, but by the 1960s the currency was entirely diminished.
These days’ cowry shells are traded as souvenirs and curios, along with many other large and colorful marine gastropods such as helmet shells (Cassidae) and the queen conch (Strombus gigas) (Dias et al. 2011). The shells are prized for their durability, differing colours and high gloss surface and are also held in high esteem as a fertility charm by some cultures (Burgess 1986). A recent observation of the retail shell trade found that tiger cowries were one of the most popular species sold (Dias et al. 2011).
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