Shell money

Shell money is the traditional name of Indigenous Peoples for a complementary currency, which occurs mainly in Asia, Africa, America and the South Pacific. Most Molluskengeld and cowrie money is mistakenly referred to as shell money, even though they are made from the housings of snails. A real shell, which is used as shell money, Macoma nasuta is.

Even today, this type of means of payment, especially ritual, still used, such as the bride and buy. There is also a theory that the shell discs were not as means of payment out of hand, but the tapes were used as a kind of account in which each shell a contract represented and was removed from the tape at checkout.

There are variants of shell money, in which the shell discs are combined with other valuable objects, including bone. Except for small shell discs and bangles could have a money function.

Production

The coastal inhabitants broke the shells, pierced the discs using sharpened sticks (now drill ) and lined it in a band. The finished tapes were then ground with stones. In manufacturing, there was a division of labor: The women gathered and sorted the shells, while it was reserved for the men, to make the ligaments and grind the shells.

Due to the scarce availability and the difficult production of the shell money of the value of the shell money was naturally regulated. The mussels were not individually such as coins, but in combination, used as money cords. Instead of counting the individual slices, often the length of the packed bands was taken as a measure of value.