DCHP-1 Online
wampum bead † Hist. 
a bead or beads of shell, Venus mercenaria, later also of porcelain, important as a kind of currency among eastern Indians.
See also: wampum (def. 1)
- c1804 (1890) They put great value on wampum beads and wear several strings of them about the neck, or suspended from the hair and ears.
- 1955 Practically the only objects open to theft were the strings of wampum beads that served both as ornaments and currency. . . .
- c1804 (1890) They put great value on wampum beads and wear several strings of them about the neck, or suspended from the hair and ears.