New Member here :) Old Shell Collector

[dave r]

Hi Meshelle, always nice to hear the story of how people got started on shell collecting. One word of warning, make sure the new curio cabinet has soft (preferably LED) lighting otherwise the shell colours will fade over time. I bet they will look great in their new home.

If you want any identified you have come to the right place, there are plenty of us here with experience of a wide variety of shell families. My personal faves are Murex, Nerites, Olives, Limpets and Strombs.
I started collecting the usual cowries and cones over 40 years ago now when I was 15, but once I had got all the ones under £100 ($150) I stopped and decided to concentrate on the families mentioned above. Lack of space also played a major part too!

Ragarding the prices, well as you guessed a lot of the 'classic rarities' have been discovered in greater numbers now and have dropped in price. Shells like the Glory of the Seas cone and the Golden Cowry are quite cheap now and I have several of each.
Conversely some shells that were relatively common back in the day are scarce now due to many different factors. Mainly habitat destruction and, sadly, in some places, overcollecting.
There  are very few shells that are endangered now, mostly some land snails and freshwater clams, but a lot are now protected and are consequently difficult to get.

The Queen Conch is protected now and it is very hard to get good specimens here in England now, when a good one turns up it goes for a lot of money. These are the shells that used to be a couple of pounds each in every seaside curio shop!

If you are interested in buying specimens look at the list of dealers on here,they are all pretty good but the prices vary so it pays to shop around first. If you are on Facebook there are also a few shell groups there that buy, sell and trade shells.

Happy shelling,
Dave