Cowrie Shells, Nigeria, 19th - 20th century
date: label: date made
content: 19th - 20th century
notes: label: Description
content: Cowrie shells were an important object of exchange in West Africa. They were largely sourced from the Maldives in the Indian Ocean and brought to West Africa by the trans-Saharan trade as well as European merchants. Cowries were regularly used in low value transactions, but could also be assembled in great quantities - in the tens and hundreds of thousands - for major transactions. They circulated alongside other forms of money, such as coins, and were a central currency of the transatlantic slave trade.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place used
content: Nigeria
label: associated place
content: Nigeria: Nigeria, Northern
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: National Numismatic Collection
label: See more items in
content: West African Currency
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Benjamin Stack, Harvey G. Stack, and Norman Stack
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: NU.77.38.032
label: accession number
content: 1977.1211
label: catalog number
content: 77.38.032
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Shell Strands, Cowrie
label: Object Name
content: alternative currency
label: Object Name
content: Necklace?
label: Other Terms
content: Necklace?; Shell Strands, Cowrie; Africa; Nigeria, Java Tribe
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: shells, cowrie (five strands) (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: natural plant fiber string (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: white (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: gray (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: light brown (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: holed then strung (overall production method/technique)
label: Physical Description
content: grass (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 48 in; 121.92 cm