Moneta Gallery Coin Museum



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China - Ghost Face C
Moneta

[ Archaic: Cowries, Spades & Knives ]
Holed_Cyp_Annulus.jpg
Chinese Cowries - ho
Moneta

[ Archaic: Cowries, Spades & Knives ]
H1_1bone_2_6g_2_3_4x18m_TP.jpg
China - Gray Bone Co
Moneta

[ Archaic: Cowries, Spades & Knives ]
100_0109.JPG
H 7.3
crawforde

[ Archaic: Cowries, Spades & Knives ]
H1_1bone_1_5g_21x18m_TP.jpg
China - Green Bone C
Moneta

[ Archaic: Cowries, Spades & Knives ]
Bone_Cowry1.jpg
China - Ivory Cowrie
Moneta

[ Archaic: Cowries, Spades & Knives ]
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Gold leaf on Bronze Cowrie
Gold leaf on Bronze Cowrie

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Moneta



Registered: August 2005
Location: Arizona USA
Posts: 2,352
users gallery
These are the height of cowry value and rarity. I have other examples where bits of gold leaf have survived on a bronze cowry but this one is still mostly covered. It has not been heavily cleaned and that is why the very thin gold layer is retained on this example.
I and others speculate that these were valuable gift items from royalty and/or grave items. Note: the photo is poor here so I will re-post another at a later date. Also watch links here and in the Library for an extensive article of ancient cowries written by a famous Chinese researcher.
This is how Bob Reis (anythinganywhere.com) describes gold wrapped imitation cowries:
Shanxi, ZHOU Dynasty, 1122-255 BC, State of Jin, c. 600-500 BC, imitation cowrie, gold wrapped bronze, 23x28mm, 4.32g, H1.3 dirty, crusty, F $250.00. 19 x 16 x 2.5 mm.; 1.55 gm. RARE!


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: September 8, 2007 · Views: 12,999 · Filesize: 54.1kb, 90.5kb · Dimensions: 793 x 500 ·
Keywords: Gold leaf on Bronze Cowry

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Bone_Cowry1.jpg
C_flat_stone2.jpg
Bone_Cowry2.jpg
C_flat_jade.jpg
C_flat_stone.jpg
Stone_Jade.jpg
Stone_Cowry2.jpg
C_Stone_ang.jpg
C_flat_shell.jpg
C_Cowry_calc.jpg
BrzGold.jpg
BrzCowry.jpg
BrzTree.jpg
Cowry_Silver.jpg
Leadcowrie.jpg
GhostFace.jpg
clay_cowrie.jpg
CH_Cowrie_Clay.jpg
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zhouHollow.jpg
ChouSpade.jpg
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