Beads as Money

The earliest trade was barter. Shells became a medium of exchange in China more than 3000 years ago. Beads have been popular for adornment and therefore as a medium of exchange in Africa and among the native people of the Americas for an unknown number of centuries. The Chumash Indians on the Channel Islands off the coast of California made shell beads that were used for trade among the Indians of the American West Coast and even what is now the Inland Southwestern United States. Beads were used as currency by the early European explorers in trading with the American Indians. Beads were believed to have been among the items used in the purchase of the Island of Manhattan by Dutch settlers. Glass beads manufactured in Europe were used as currency in the African slave trade.
You can purchase beads for adornment or any purpose at Beadshaper .