Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;John Anthony, post: 2882371, member: 42773&quot;]Some form of shell money appears to have been used on almost every continent: America, Asia, Africa, and Australia. It was originally used as a commodity exchange, the shells having value as jewelry. “In China, cowries were so important that many characters relating to money or trade contain the character for cowry: 貝. Starting over three thousand years ago, cowry shells, or copies of the shells, were used as Chinese currency. The Classical Chinese character for &quot;money/currency&quot;, 貝, originated as a pictograph of a cowrie shell.” [<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_money" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_money" rel="nofollow">wiki</a>] The ancient Chinese used three types of shell money: actual cowrie shells, imitations carved from bone or stone, and imitations cast from bronze, with inscribed variants known as Ant Nose Money.</p><p><br /></p><p><font size="4"><i>Inscriptions and archaeological evidence show that cowrie shells were regarded as important objects of value in the Shang dynasty (c. 1766-1154 BC). In the Zhou period, they are frequently referred to as gifts or rewards from kings and nobles to their subjects. Later imitations in bone, stone or bronze were probably used as money in some instances.</i> (Hartill, David. <i>Cast Chinese Coins</i>, p.3)</font></p><p><br /></p><p>Here is a group of four imitation bone cowrie shells that come to me from my friend and fellow dealer Don Zauche, who has a lifetime of experience trading and authenticating ancient artifacts.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://s1.postimg.org/1uewle4bhb/bone_cowries.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><font size="3">CHINA. Bone imitation cowrie shell money.</font></p><p><font size="3">Four pieces, ranging from 2.3 to 3.4g, 23-27mm.</font></p><p><font size="3">3rd to 2nd millenia BC.</font></p><p><font size="3">Reference: Hartill 1.2 (p.3)</font></p><p><font size="3">Ex Don Zauche</font></p><p><br /></p><p>Feel free to post any shell money you may have, or coins with shells on them. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in