wampum bead†

Hist.

DCHP-1 (pre-1967)

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a bead or beads of shell, Venus mercenaria, later also of porcelain, important as a kind of currency among eastern Indians.

See: wampum(def. 1)

Quotations

<i>c</i>1804

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. . . .