| Part ofa series on |
| Economic,applied, anddevelopment anthropology |
|---|
Case studies
|
| Social andcultural anthropology |
 | This article includes a list ofgeneral references, butit lacks sufficient correspondinginline citations. Please help toimprove this article byintroducing more precise citations.(March 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Shell money is a medium ofexchange similar to coinmoney and other forms ofcommodity money, and was once commonly used in many parts of the world.[1] Shell money usually consisted of whole or partialsea shells, often worked intobeads or otherwise shaped. The use of shells intrade began as directcommodity exchange, the shells having use-value asbody ornamentation. The distinction betweenbeads as commodities and beads asmoney has been the subject of debate amongeconomic anthropologists.[2]
Shell money has appeared in theAmericas,Asia,Africa andAustralia. The shell most widely used worldwide ascurrency was the shell ofCypraea moneta, the moneycowry. This species is most abundant in theIndian Ocean, and was collected in theMaldive Islands, inSri Lanka, along the Malabar coast, inBorneo and on other East Indian islands, and in various parts of theAfrican coast fromRas Hafun toMozambique.Cowry shell money was an important part of the trade networks ofAfrica,South Asia, andEast Asia.
_(14777393065).jpg)
On the east coast of North America,Indigenous peoples of theIroquois Confederacy andAlgonquian tribes, such as theShinnecock tribe, ground beads calledwampum, which were cut from the purple part of the shell of the marine bivalveMercenaria mercenaria, more commonly known as thehard clam orquahog.[3] White beads were cut from the white part of the quahog or whelk shells.Iroquois peoples strung these shells on string in lengths, or wove them in belts.
The shell most valued by the Native American tribes of the Pacific Coast fromAlaska to northwestCalifornia wasDentalium, one of several species oftusk shell or scaphopod.[4] The tusk shell is naturally open at both ends, and can easily be strung on a thread. This shell money was valued by its length rather than the exact number of shells; the "ligua", the highest denomination in their currency, was a length of about 6 inches.[5]
Farther south, in central California and southern California, the shell of the olive snailOlivella biplicata was used to make beads for at least 9,000 years. The small numbers recovered in older archaeological site components suggest that they were initially used asornamentation, rather than as money.[6] Beginning shortly before 1,000 years ago,Chumash specialists on the islands of California's Santa Barbara Channel began chipping beads from olive shells in such quantities that they left meter-deep piles of manufacturing residue in their wake; the resulting circular beads were used as money throughout the area that is now southern California.[7] Starting at about AD 1500, and continuing into the late nineteenth century, theCoast Miwok,Ohlone,Patwin,Pomo, andWappo peoples of central California used the marine bivalveSaxidomus sp. to make shell money.[8]
In Africa shell money was widely used aslegal tender up until the mid 19th century. The shells ofOlivella nana, the sparkling dwarf olive sea snail were harvested onLuanda Island for use as currency in theKingdom of Kongo. They were even traded north as far as theKingdom of Benin. In the Kongo they were callednzimbu orzimbo.[9] The shell of the largeland snail,Achatina monetaria, cut into circles with an open center was also used as coin inBenguella.
In West Africa thecowrie shell was widely used, including regions far from the coast. By the early 16th century European traders were importing thousands of pounds of cowries to trade for cloth, food, wax, hides, and other goods as well as slaves. These currency flows were instrumental in the development of the powerful states ofBenin,Ouidah and others along the coast.-[10]: 179–83 Between 1500 and 1875 at least 30 billion cowries were imported to theBight of Benin, accounting for 44% of the total value of trade.[10]: 316 Around 1850 the German explorerHeinrich Barth found it fairly widespread inKano, Kuka,Gando, and evenTimbuktu. Barth relates that inMuniyoma, one of the ancient divisions ofBornu, the king's revenue was estimated at 30,000,000 shells, with every adult male being required to pay annually 1,000 shells for himself, 1,000 for every pack-ox, and 2,000 for everyslave in his possession.[citation needed]
The shells were fastened together in strings of forty or one-hundred each, so that fifty or twenty strings represented adollar.
As the value of the cowrie and thenzimbu was much greater in Africa than in the regions from which European traders obtained their supply, the trade was extremely lucrative. In some cases the gains are said to have been 500%.[citation needed] As these currency imports increased, however,inflation took hold and damaged the local economies.[10]: 201
In parts ofBritish West Africa, cowries remained accepted for tax payments until the early 20th centuries, and their use as currency in unregulated environments persisted until the 1960s.[11]: 172, 208 The national currency ofGhana introduced in 1965, thecedi, was named after cowrie shells.
InChina, cowries were so important that many characters relating to money or trade contain the character for cowry貝 as a component (e.g. 價 "price", 費 "to spend", 買 "to buy", 財 "wealth", 貨 "commodities"). Starting over three thousand years ago, cowry shells, or copies of the shells, were used asChinese currency.[12] TheClassical Chinesecharacter radical for "money/currency",貝, originated as a pictograph of a cowrie shell.[13]
_-_Jin_State.jpg)
Cowries orkaudi were used as means of exchange inIndia since ancient times up to around 1830. InBengal, where they were exchanged at a rate of 2560 to arupee, In details- 4 cowries equaled 1 ganda, 5 gandas equaled 1 budis, 4 budis equaled 1 pana, 16 panas equaled 1 kahan, and 10 kahanas equaled 1 tanka/rupee.
The annual importation in early 19th centuryBengal fromthe Maldives was valued at about 30,000 rupees. A single slave would sell for 25,000 cowries.
InOrissa, India, the use of thekaudi was abolished by the BritishEast India Company in 1805 in favor of silver. This was one of the causes of thePaik Rebellion in 1817.[14]
InSoutheast Asia, when the value of the Siamesetical (baht) was about half a troy ounce of silver (about 16 grams), the value of the cowrie (Thai:เบี้ยbia) was fixed at1⁄6400 baht.
.jpg)
In northernAustralia, different shells were used by different tribes, one tribe's shell often being quite worthless in the eyes of another tribe.
In the islands north ofNew Guinea the shells were broken into flakes. Holes were bored through these flakes, which were then valued by the length of a threaded set on a string, as measured using the finger joints. Two shells are used by these Pacific islanders, one a cowry found on the New Guinea coast, and the other the common pearl shell, broken into flakes.
In theSouth Pacific Islands the speciesOliva carneola was commonly used to create shell money. As late as 1882, local trade in theSolomon Islands was carried on by means of a coinage of shell beads, small shells laboriously ground down to the required size by the women. No more than were actually needed were made, and as the process was difficult, the value of the coinage was satisfactorily maintained.
Although rapidly being replaced by modern coinage, the cowry shell currency is still in use to some extent in the Solomon Islands. The shells are worked into strips of decorated cloth whose value reflects the time spent creating them.
In parts ofPapua New Guinea, shells were historically a valuable currency. They served as a medium of exchange along known networks. The decrease in overall violence during the colonial period meant that these exchange networks expanded, and became accessible to younger individuals.Gold-lipped pearl shells formed part of the payment labourers received at German plantations, along with steel tools. Later, after World War II, migrant workers fromNew Britain who worked at theNaval Base Manus exchanged their wages for shells before returning home. This new source of shells created inflation, which may have resulted in more people participating in the shell-mediated exchange system.[15]: 90 To convert a fresh shell into money, the shell must be polished to remove its skin, shaped to be more round, and have a hole created through which it can be hung from a rope. Some are further modified, although such additional changes do not affect monetary value.[15]: 92 Metal currency, including both colonial-era coins and the currency of independent Papua New Guinea, initially served only as a medium of exchange with the outside world, used internally only when no shells were available. The coin and shell currencies differed, with coins being inherently fungible, whereas shells often had individual unique value that related to the relationship between the buyer and the seller.[15]: 91 InEast New Britain, shell currency is still used and can be exchanged for thePapua New Guinean kina.[16]
In parts of West Asia,Cypraea annulus, the ring cowry, so-called because of the bright orange-colored ring on the back or upper side of the shell, was commonly used. Many specimens were found by SirAusten Henry Layard in his excavations atNimrud in 1845–1851. In certain regions of present day Bangladesh and India, this type of old cowry is also being discovered.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Shell-money".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 833.
| Commodity money |
| |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Money (Fiat/Token) | ||||||
| General |
| |||||
