Cones: classics

[cribraria kid]

Hi Guys (esp David)

My first post and quick background.

I'm a licensed WA specimen shell diver living in Perth. I generally collect non-endemic WA cypraea but I do have a small local zoila collection, with a smattering of Australian and world wide cypraea.
I've been collecting for around 30 years but sold off 99% of my shells a few years ago and started again.

Lately I've noticed on the cypraea market, that the classic cowies- aurantium, hirasei,leucodon, valentia etc have all plummeted in price- market forces I understand perfectly well.

But what about in the Conus world? I notced that conus gloriamaris is not the uber-rarity it once was. What else, once considered rare has become more available on the market? and for that matter what would you include on a list of "Classic cones"?

[dave r]

Hi Jon, welcome to the forum.
You are correct that a lot of 'classic' cowries have become more affordable of late however there are still a lot that are as hard to get as they ever were. Species like leucodon, nymphae, fultoni (nominate that is), iutsui, midwayensis, to name but a few, are just as elusive as ever. Likewise the Cones, yes, gloriamaris, cedonulli, dusaveli, milneedwardsi and the like have dropped in price, but others such as excelsus, cervus, gauguini, adamsoni, are still very expensive. A good specimen of any of these would still run into three figures.
Then there are all the new species being discovered, will they remain expensive or will the price of those gradually come down? Sometimes it is down to supply and demand; when Palmadusta androyensis, for example, was first discovered everyone wanted it and the price was sky high but when everyone had got one and they were no longer selling the price dropped and you can pick them up for a few pounds now. Same with other species, when they are 'new' everybody wants one and once they all have one the price drops because they won't sell anymore. That is of course as long as there are good numbers to be found, some species such as C. alexhuberti are only known from a handful of specimens so, unless someone stumbles upon the 'motherlode', they will remain almost unobtainable.
BTW I like your nickname, I am particularly keen on the Cribrarula complex of cowries, even though I am primarily a Murex and Olive collector!
Cheers,
Dave