Moneta Gallery Coin Museum



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CHINA - Mother of Pe
Moneta

[ Archaic: Imitation Cowries ]
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China - White Stone
Moneta

[ Archaic: Imitation Cowries ]
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China - Oval Lead Co
Moneta

[ Archaic: Imitation Cowries ]
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China - Bronze Cowri
Moneta

[ Archaic: Imitation Cowries ]
Bronze_Ring-Cowrie.jpg
CHINA - Bronze Ring
Moneta

[ Archaic: Imitation Cowries ]
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China - Clay cowrie
Moneta

[ Archaic: Imitation Cowries ]
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Jadeite2_ob
CHINA - Green Jade Imitation Cowrie - Ex. Detroit Money Museum

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Moneta



Registered: August 2005
Location: Arizona USA
Posts: 2,356
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I was the lucky winner in Kagin's Auction (Mar 2021) Lot# 4233. It consisted of 19 examples that were previously in the Nate S Shapiro Collection and displayed at the Detroit Money Museum. These were acquired before 1960 but were sold when the Museum closed (~1992). In ancient China cowrie seashells (Cyprea Moneta & C. Annulus) were so valuable that imitations were made to serve as money and grave items.
This very rare example is unusually large and beautiful. It appears to be fashioned out of green jadeite, which is to say JADE!. It's 75 mm long, 41.5 mm wide, and 20 mm thick, it weights 72.5 grams. So, how's that for the first "Green Back?" It features the carved 'teeth' of a natural cowrie but this example also shows a carving on the back which is a large circle with a 'X' through it that has serifs at the two ends that are visible.
All of the number tags, unfortunately glued to most of the specimens in the museum collection, are a characteristic of all Charles Opitz collection pieces.


Moneta Library has articles on Cowries to VIEW and DOWNLOAD:
The Worlds's First Money, Chinese Cowries and Their Imitations - by Ted Puls [ link ]
Cowries - Bob Reis: [ link ]
Origin of Cowries in Ancient China - UofPa: [ link ]
Metallic Cowries - Royal Asiatic Society: [ link ]
Nice Video on Cowrie history: [ link ]
· Date: May 23, 2021 · Views: 651 · Filesize: 145.7kb · Dimensions: 438 x 500 ·
Keywords: CHINA - Jadeite Imitation Cowrie
Additional Categories: Archaic: Imitation Cowries

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