Metal tool money, such as knife and spade monies ... The earliest known use of wampum, which are strings of beads made from clam shells, was by North American Indians in 1535.

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.

For northeastern tribes, wampum was a valued gift. But European settlers, whether by mistake or by design, adopted it as money. So in 1637, the general court of Massachusetts Bay Colony legalized ...