Art,
  I think it is a lousy idea! Can you make money?  Sure if you're lucky.
However, look in Peter Dance's book Rare Shells and see how many of these
classic, rare shells are still rare and will command a high price.  Unlike
stamps, coins, art, etc.(where only a finite number of objects are
available, and they get harder to find as the years go by) one can always
find the mother load of shells and swamp the market.  I believe there was a
 thread
some months ago about finding many rare cowries off of the east coast of
Africa.  If you absolutely have to have one, sure you will pay the asking
price, others will wait for others to start collecting, flood the market
and drop the price.  My one exception is the freshwater and terrestrial
mollusks where many are extinct or threathened.

Charlie
******************************************************************************
Charlie Sturm, Jr
Research Associate - Section of Invertebrate Zoology
                     Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, PA
Assistant Professor - Family Medicine

[log in to unmask]