At one time **the worlds’ rarest and most valueable sea shell** the conus \Gloria Maris\ or “Glory of the Sea”.
A keen shell collector with a memory for the latin names, Wal Gibbins discovered the previously unknown South Pacific habitat of this elusive prize in the Solomon Islands.
The shell liked deep dark water. Unlike some other cones this one can be found in daylight hours. Trouble was, the same territory (the entrance to rivers) was favoured by saltwater crocs and nearby sharks of all sizes inhabited the open water. This discouraged a lot of divers from looking there.
By late 1970 Wal has shocked the shell museums of the world with a price list that detailed specimens of many sizes.
A very rare shell in 1969, in good condition was worth $10,000 to a keen collector (in today’s adjusted values). In 1969 there were only 76 known specimens of \Gloria Maris\ which consisted mainly of dead specimens washed up on beaches in the Phillipines and New Guinea. Only three were known from the Solomons, but this was a good clue.
Diving had the ability to find perfect specimens. Wal discovered the habitat and found as many as 30 shells in one day, but usually just a couple. They were released onto the world market at half-price. But the prices dropped rapidly. Specimens were donated to three museums in Australia.
Pictured above is the smallest and the largest \Gloria Maris\ ever found by Wal, and therefore probably the two known extremes of size.
For some reason, the smaller shell seems rather cute and unique. The entire collection is therefore ‘priceless’ (not for sale).