Also interesting which I didn't mention before - they bought these things in Liverpool, England. 

Cowrie shells in Liverpool? They were obviously shipped there from the tropics, specifically to use as trade goods.

Signal312

Also it doesn't even need to be malicious intent on the part of the people who are using beads, etc, as currency.

The man who wrote the original excerpt went there to be a missionary, and to serve the natives in the Congo. He was probably sincere, since there was about a 50% death rate for missionaries.

But the natives weren't aware that they were using terrible money, and there were better moneys around.

econ

A short excerpt from the book Presbyterian Pioneers in Congo

Also it doesn't even need to be malicious intent on the part of the people who are using beads, etc, as currency. 

The man who wrote the original excerpt went there to be a missionary, and to serve the natives in the Congo. He was probably sincere, since there was about a 50% death rate for missionaries.

But the natives weren't aware that they were using terrible money, and there were better moneys around. 