The Probert Encyclopaedia of Money

COWRIE-SHELL

The Cowrie-shell is a small gasteropodous shell, the Cyprcea moneta, formerly used for coinage in some parts of Africa and in many parts of Southern Asia. The beauty of the cowrie-shells has procured them a place among ornaments, and they have been in demand among civilized and uncivilized nations time out of memory. The shells used as currency occured principally in the Philippine Islands.
Research Cowrie-Shell