In amongst a box of assorted and mostly unlabeled shells that what given
to me is one that was labelled as a "Lilac Cowry".  I can't see anything
like it an any shell book available. It looks like a Tiger Cowry with a
purplish top instead of spots.  In fact it looks as if someone has
removed the spotted top of the shell to a layer underneath and then
smoothed off the edges where the new purplish areas meet the spotted
edges.  Am I right?
There is also an unnamed medium sized abalone that has a smooth and very
shiny iridescent and brown outer surface.  I don't know of any abalones
that have shiny, smooth shells. This has been polished, right?
 
Just thought I'd check before I toss them....