Museum of money of Feodosia
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COWRY
Cowry (also sometimes spelled cowrie) is the common name for a group of small to large sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Cypraeidae. The word 'cowry' is often used to refer primarily to the shells of these snails.
Cowries have historically been used as currency in several parts of the world, as well as being used, in the past and present, very extensively in jewelry and for other decorative and ceremonial purposes.
Cypraeidae are found in tropical and subtropical oceans and seas worldwide. The shells of cowries are almost always smooth and shiny (a few species have granular shells) and more or less egg-shaped, with a long, narrow, slit-like opening.
All varieties have a porcelain-like shine (except Hawaii's granulated cowry) and many have colorful patterns. Lengths range from 5 mm for some species up to 15 cm for the tiger cowry, Cypraea tigris.
Cowries (Cypraea moneta) were the most popular currency within Africa (Ghanaian cedi in Ghana named after cowry shells) and elsewhere, such as in China and India where the shell or copies of the shell were in theory used as a means of exchange. They are also worn as jewelry or otherwise used as ornaments or charms, as they are viewed as symbols of womanhood, fertility, birth and wealth.
Pictures of cowrie shells adorned cave walls. The Egyptians considered them to be magical agents and also used them as currency in foreign exchange transactions. Archaeologists have excavated millions of them in the tombs of the Pharaohs.
In the thirteenth century, cowrie shells were brought to Africa from the Maldives in the Indian Ocean by Arab traders. They first came to Egypt, then across the Sahara to the western Sudan region. Later, they were brought in by Dutch and English traders through the Guinea Coast ports of West Africa.
The Europeans were astonished that the Africans preferred cowrie shells to gold coin and in places where gold was the international unit of foreign exchange, cowrie shells were used to purchase small necessities.
Cowries were used in many other ways. One use was as special-purpose currency: bridewealth, payments for fines, divination ('the money of Ifa'), funerals, initiation into secret societies. Another was as decoration: on clothing, drums, divining chains, headdresses, ritual masks and furniture, and in games and in computation.

en.wikipedia.org; www.mbad.org

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Denomination: – Year: – Material: Cowry Description: Cowry Cypraea (Monetaria) caputserpentis. Country or town: –

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