It is not the only item from nature to have been used as money. Wampum, a type of shell bead, were used as currency by Native Americans while whale teeth were exchanged for goods by people in Fiji.

From one shell, he creates a few different pieces ... So in 1637, the general court of Massachusetts Bay Colony legalized wampum as currency and established rates for it. Allen: It was not ...

The cowrie is the most widely and longest used currency in history ... The earliest known use of wampum, which are strings of beads made from clam shells, was by North American Indians in 1535.