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David Sundman passed along this article from The Times about a shipwreck carrying cowrie shell money. -Editor  The wreck of a 400-year-old ship carrying seashells, porcelain and spices, and armed with cannons, has been found off the coast of Portugal in what archaeologists have
called the discovery of the decade.
The remains of the vessel, which divers found in about 12 metres (40ft) of water, include nine bronze cannons engraved with the Portuguese coat of arms, Chinese ceramics, condiments and cowrie shells, which were used as currency among slave traders. “From a heritage perspective, this is the discovery of a decade,” said Jorge Freire, scientific director of the team. He said the wreck, which was found in the mouth of the River Tagus close to Cascais, near Lisbon, and is believed to date from between 1575 and 1625, when Portugal’s spice trade with India was at its peak. Artefacts have been removed from the site to help scholars identify the name of the ship and where it had sailed from. To read the complete article, see:  Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
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