download PDF - Conchologists of America

Page 12 Vol. 39, No. 1
It is interesting that of the coins of the world that display
shells, the majority display conch shells. Of course conch shells
are usually large and, in most cases, quite beautiful. In this article
coins displaying conch shells are illustrated and I present some of
the major uses of these shells by various cultures. Humans have
been fascinated with and used marine as well as terrestrial shells
for over 10,000 years and, for Lance and I, we believe the people
had and have excellent taste. [Editor: Recent research has pushed
back this date to at least 40,000 years ago and possibly earlier
still.]
Figure 1. Coins with Triton shells from a) Vanuatu, b)
Seychelles, c) Maldives, and d) the Cook Islands.
Charonia sp.
The triton shell is portrayed on most of the coins used
in this article. The shells come from Pacific Islands and islands
in the Indian Ocean where they were often used as trumpets.
Charonia species used in such a manner include C. lampas
(Linnaeus, 1758), C. variegata (Lamarck, 1816), and, most often,
C. tritonis (Linnaeus, 1758). The sea god Triton, for which the
species Charonia tritonis is named, is often depicted blowing a
shell trumpet. Such trumpets were used in the Mediterranean
area, the Pacific Islands and Japan, as well as other places. Triton
shells were used as trumpets in Italy as far back as the Neolithic
(circa 5150 B.C.). In the oral tradition of the people of western
New Guinea, Snake blows the Triton shell and tells the people that
since they struck him, he will lie in wait to bite them. In many
Pacific Islands, the conch shell was blown as a sign of war, a sign
of victory, and in announcing the presence of the chief. Triton
Conch shells on coins
Jesse Todd
Photographs by Lance K. Trask
shell trumpets are usually made with the apex removed (Figure 2),
but some Pacific Islanders perforate the shell and blow the shell
sideways as illustrated in Figure 3.
Figure 2 (above). Man blowing conch shell at the apex, as
shown on a portion of a post card from Hawaii.
Figure 3 (below). Man blowing conch shell trumpet from hole
in the spiral portion of the shell, from a portion of a post card
from Fiji.
Turbinella pyrum
Turbinella pyrum (Linnaeus, 1758) is the sacred chank of
Hinduism and Buddhism. Two coins (Figure 4) portray the sacred
chank and both are from areas where it is an important part of the
religion. Its major function is that of a trumpet similar to the one
illustrated in Figure 5. According to the Bhagavat-Gita, the gods
had their own chank trumpets which they blew when they went
to war. Krishna’s trumpet was named Panchajanya. He took the
shell trumpet from a marine demon. Bangles, necklaces and rings
were made from the T. pyrum shell and it was used a currency