Tiger Cowrie

We picked up these beautiful tiger cowries from a second-hand/ vintage market in Texas of all places. We don't know their origin other than most likely the Gulf of Mexico (or America?), but we are anyway certain that they have not been recently taken from a struggling coral reef. They are all different, both in pattern (as is usual for this lovely shell) and size, ranging from 6-9cm long. They look wonderful grouped in a glass vase, or individually.