Sea Shell Collecting – Some Interesting Facts

Sea shell collecting is a very thrilling and interesting hobby.  It was discovered that sea shell collecting has a long history which goes back to the great civilizations of antiquity. However, only since the second half of the 17th century, shell collecting started being very popularly among the richest people of Europe.

At the beginning sea shell collecting was called "the hobby of kings".  Many famous people hired ships and spent big money on their shelling expedition during the 18-19 centuries.

At that time many European sovereigns and nobles had so called "cabinets of the curious" in their homes. The same "cabinets of the curious" consisted of specimen shells, fish skeletons and other natural objects of the seas.

It is not an exaggeration to say that most of the best, rare shell specimens sold by their weight in gold in 17th-19th centuries.  And it was still counted as good luck to get a quality specimen.

In the 17th-19th centuries, the possession of a shell collection was like a possession of a collection of classic hotrods in our day, (wow, I'd wish to come back in the 18th century with my shell collection).

These two brief odd stories are examples of shell deals during that epoch.

Cone the Glory-of-the-Seas (Conus gloriamaris, Chemnitz 1777) was one of the rarest shells for 180 years (1777-1957).  Chris Hwass, a great collector purchased an amazing specimen Conus gloriamaris at a shell auction in 1792. He paid a big sum for this treasured one. But the collector simply broke the shell underfoot shouting "I've got another Glory-of-the-Sea in my collection and now that's the single one left in the world!".  But Hwass was wrong with his statement.  Some years later, a couple of new fresh Conus gloriamaris' specimens were found.  In our days, you can pick up a quality specimen of Glory-of-the-Seas for $ 100.

In 1750, Maria Theresa's husband bought an awesome Precious Wentletrap (Epitonium scalare, Linne 1758). He spent 4000 Dutch guilders (Dutch guilden = 10.62 grams of sterling silver) on this 60mm natural treasure. Epitonium scalare was a very called-for shell among collectors of the time. Most of Epitonium specimens were brought by the Dutch East-Indian merchants.

Some Chinese "master craftsmen" found out how much Europeans were ready to pay for this natural sea treasure.  And during some years of the 19 century they inundated the market with counterfeited specimens of Precious Wentletraps. They used a rice-paste to make these fakes.

Now any collector is able to get Precious Wentletrap in top condition for less than $50 USD. But instead, those old Chinese rice-paste counterfeits became super curios.  As far as I know only 2 old rice-paste Wentletraps are found at this time.

It has to be said, in the modern sea shell collecting world, to falsify rare species of shells has already become a profitable business in the Philippines, India and some parts of Europe.

Some particular shell specimens are priced very highly on the modern market. As an example, one specimen of Cypraea fultoni went for $37,000 a few years ago!

Be sure that record will be soon broken. Anyway, most of the shell specimens are selling for a fair price, and only the rarest, peculiar specimens cost thousands of USD.

You do not have to be a millionaire to collect shells in our time (However, being a shell collector and being a millionaire is a doubled pleasure at the same time).

Many celebrated persons were interested in a sea shell collecting to more or less degree. Some names of these men are below:

Augustus II the Strong (1670–1733), the King of Poland.

The first Russian Emporer Peter I the Great (1682-1725).

Emperor Hirohito of Japan (1901–1989), was a great sea shell collector. Emperor's Slit Shell (Perotrochus hirasei, Pilsbury 1903) got its name in honour of Emperor Hirohito. Until the 1940s, according to the law every Japanese fisherman who netted the Emperor's Slit Shell were made to pass it on to an inspector.  And then all these shells were sent to the Court of Hirohito. In other words, all caught and yet uncaught specimens of Perotrochus hirasei were the property of Emperor Hirohito.

Prince of Monaco Albert I, (1848 –1922) founder the worldwide famous Oceanographic Museum in Monaco.  He owned one the largest, beautiful seashell collections in the world. And the amazing specimens of his collections are still exhibited in that museum.

The English novelist Mary Anne Evans (1819 - 1880), who wrote under the pen name George Eliot.

Sir Thomas Lipton (1848 –1931), the creator of the Lipton tea brand, and a famous yachtsman.

Ian Fleming (1908 –1964), the author of the bestsellers of James Bond.

Probably, there are over 200,000 species of different mollusks living in the modern seas. Every year malacologiers find and describe tens of new species of new mollusks.

But this is not a scientific article anyway; this is just a tiny piece of the huge wonderful world which is called Conchology.  A bit of the underwater world which is filled with natural treasures and mysteries. And you will never be bored with sea shell collecting, no doubt.

One day, the great writer Robert L. Stevenson said: "It is perhaps a more fortunate destiny to have a taste for collecting shells than to be born a millionaire". Maybe he was right! Maybe you should know some more about sea shell collecting today!