According to Burgess, the earliest mention of cowries is as their use as
currency in China in the 14th century B.C.  A Hindu treatise of about 900
A.D. tells of their use as currency in India, where they were called "kauri".
This became cowrie in 17th century England, when travellers returned from the
Orient with little shells called cowries (Cypraea moneta, primarily), which
were being used as currency in Bengal and other places.