DCHP-2

wampum bead † Hist. DCHP-1 (pre-1967)

• 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. . . .