Cowry shells are definitely believed to be the earliest form of currency used in Central China, about 3000 to 4500 years ago.
Cowry shells were also excavated at Anyang, suggesting trade with coast-dwellers, but there was very limited sea trade in ancient China since China was isolated from other large civilizations during the Shang period.
In zoology, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the generic name and the specific epithet: e.g. the Tiger Cowry of the Indo-Pacific, Cypraea (Cypraea) tigris Linnaeus, which belongs to the subgenus Cypraea of the genus Cypraea.
The values of the stamps varied, but all were denominated in cowries (monetary seashells), at 200 cowries per rupee or 12½ cowries = 1d.
Cowry |
A shell of the tiger cowry Cypraea tigris, a popular ornament in Europe and elsewhere, was also sometimes used as a ready-made darning egg.
Pustularia globulus, a cowry, a sea snail species occurring in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean