Shells on Stamps – Page 1
by Tom Walker
Adhesive postage stamps were first introduced in 1840, and it was not long before a shell was included in the design. This was a stylised Strombus gigas on the first Bahamian stamps on 10 June 1859. Since then shells (and other molluscs) have been represented on the stamps of about 270 countries, with over 5500 different stamps.
It was not until 1950, however, that the first stamp with 'realistic' shells was issued; Strombus luhuanus, Lambis lambis and Decatopecten radula were shown on a stamp from the Ryukyu Islands.
The great majority of illustrated molluscs are gastropods; the most reproduced shell, although in a stylised form, is Turbinella pyrum, which appears on numerous stamps of the Indian Feudatory States of Cochin, Travancore and Travancore-Cochin; this shell, the Indian Chank, is a religious symbol of these states.
The most represented 'realistic' shell is Strombus gigas, while the largest families, not surprisingly, are Conidae with 76 species or subspecies, followed closely by Cypraeidae with 72 and Muricidae with 60. Geographically most illustrated shells are from tropical waters, although countries as far north as Iceland (Buccinum undatum) and as far south as the British Antarctic Territory (a set of fossils) have shown molluscs on stamps.
