Economy
The tiny seashell that powered global trade
HERE’S THE INTERESTING PART
Gold and silver get all the glory, but a tiny sea snail absolutely dominated global trade for thousands of years. From ancient China to Africa and the Middle East, the glossy, lightweight, and incredibly difficult-to-forge cowrie shell was the premier medium of exchange. It was so fundamental to commerce that the classical Chinese written character for 'money' is literally just a stylized drawing of a cowrie shell.
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