Cowrie shells in China and Africa
Cowrie shells from the Maldives became the dominant small-denomination currency across a trade belt running from Shang dynasty China through the Indian Ocean into West Africa. Shang burial sites contain strings of cowries placed alongside nobles. In the kingdom of Dahomey, 40 shells equaled one 'tokkou', 50 tokkou one 'galinhas', and taxes were counted by the sack. Their use outlasted the Shang, the Zhou, the Mali Empire, and nearly all the coinage that came afterward.
The Chinese character for money (財) still contains the radical for cowrie (貝). Cowries were still circulating in parts of West Africa as late as the early 20th century — having survived the rise and fall of every coin and paper currency between.
01 · Barter & Commodity Money
For most of human history there was no money, only exchange. Grain for tools, cattle for labor, shells for both. Commodity money emerged when a few goods — cowrie shells, cattle, barley, salt — became widely enough accepted to act as intermediaries between trades. They were expensive to forge, useful to hold, and recognizable across cultures.
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