fifty dollars, but may now be had for five 

 dollars. Aurantia, the orange cowry, 

 was once almost priceless, but is now 

 sold at from twenty to forty dollars. Some 

 of the lesser rarities are Cypraea scoltii, 

 worth from five to eight dollars, and Cy- 

 praea decipiens, worth from fifteen to 

 twenty dollars. These extravagant prices 

 need not be paid by any one desiring a 

 collection of these pretty shells, for the 

 price of a single rarity will suffice to pur- 

 chase the majority of the common spe- 

 cies. Several private collections in the 

 United States contain from one hundred 

 fifty to one hundred seventy species, in- 

 cluding a number of the rarities spoken 

 of above. 



In connection with the Cypraeas it is 

 interesting to notice other species of shell 

 money which have been used as money. 

 The North American Indians used frag- 

 ments of shells for money, which they 

 called wampum. In New England wam- 

 pum was in the form of beads, the man- 

 ufacture of which required considerable 

 skill. These beads were cylindrical in 

 form, about one-fourth of an inch long 

 and half as wide. They were of two 

 colors and were drilled and strung on 

 long cords. 



The quahog (Venus mercenaria) was 

 much used in the manufacture of shell 

 money because of its two decided colors, 

 pure white and deep purple. The white 

 beads were called wampum or wompom 

 and the black beads suckauhock, or 

 black money. In addition to the quahog 

 the whelk Buccinum and the "periwin- 

 kle" or ''winkle" were used, the long, 

 white columella being cut from the shell 

 and made into beads. 



We learn from some of the older rec- 

 ords that in Massachusetts the wampum 

 was valued at three beads to a penny or 

 five shillings for a fathom. The fathom 

 varied in size according to the number 

 of beads allowed by law as an equivalent 

 to a penny. If this was six, then the 



fathom contained three hundred and six- 

 ty beads, but if the number was four, 

 then the fathom was composed of two 

 hundred forty beads. Owing to the 

 counterfeiting of wampum by the whites, 

 who could make it much quicker with 

 their tools than could the Indians, the 

 value rapidly fell in later years and its 

 use was finally discontinued. 



On the coast of California the tooth or 

 tusk shells, Dentalium, were used as 

 money, being strung together as were 

 the beads of the New England Indians. 

 Those of the better quahty were called 

 Phai-Kwa or hi-qua and represented the 

 highest standard of money. One hi-qua 

 would purchase one male or two female 

 slaves. The damaged or defective shells 

 Were called kop-kops, forty of which 

 equalled one hi-qua in value. At one 

 time a single hi-qua was equal in value 

 to about two hundred fifty dollars. Other 

 shells were also used on the Pacific coast, 

 some of which were simply strung in the 

 form of beads while others were cut from 

 large shells. One of the latter was from 

 the large clam, Pachydesma crassatel- 

 loides, and the pieces were called hawock 

 or ha-wok, their value ranging from four 

 to twenty-five cents. Another clam used 

 was the Saxidomus aratus. 



The little Olivella biplicata was used 

 for beads and was called hol-kol. They 

 were made by grinding o& the apex, 

 which left a hole through the top of 

 the shell. The Haliotis or abalone was 

 also used and was called uhl-lo. Pieces 

 of the shell one or two inches in length 

 were cut from the flat part of the aba- 

 lone, a hole was drilled in one end and 

 they were strung like beads. Their value 

 was one dollar each, or ten dollars for a 

 string of ten pieces. Like the shell money 

 of New England that of the Pacific coast 

 was counterfeited by the whites and for 

 this reason the value of the native cur- 

 rency soon declined. 



Frank Collins Baker. 



90 



