ULTRA! RARE ALBINO! Cypraea chinensis hawaiiensis 31.4mm ONE OF A KIND BEAUTY

Description: IMPORTANT SHIPPING NEWS--- We are temporarily switching from USPS to UPS--- Houston's Post Office is broken, dead, packages are taking weeks to get thru, and it is "reliably rumored" that this will go on for months!So, until fixed, we are temporarily switching to UPS so you can get your beautiful shells in a timely manner. And so you know, UPS will be charging us around $8.00 per package, that's why we have to increase our shipping charge to $5.95 per package. But rest assured, as soon as the Houston USPS gets going again, we will immediately switch back to USPS so we can drop our shipping charge back to $3.95.We're sorry this is necessary, and wish to say thank you to all of our terrific friends and customers who have been so patient and supportive of us! Get free shipping for your entire order when you buy any 3 shells at the same time. Every now and then a one-of-a-kind rarity becomes available... or a show-stopping ultra-rare gem steps out of the crowd... shells that take your breath away and are a joy to own...an elite shell--- Another consignment sale by IslandShells323...ULTRA! RARE ALBINO! Cypraea chinensis hawaiiensis 31.4mm, Gmelin 1791, ONE OF A KIND BEAUTY from Hawaii. . Found in the early 1970's on a night dive in 30-40 feet of water, it was crawling in the open on a rock at Makaha Beach, Oahu, Hawaii.. When the world-renown author, diver and sunken treasure hunter Tony Wells sent me a message and photos of some shells he wished to sell, shells he had collected as a kid while growing up in Hawaii, some of the shells he mentioned, besides cypraea tessellatas, was a live collected cypraea rashleighana and a live collected cypraea ostergaardi, both super-rare today. . Needless to say, I was interested, especially when I saw the photos he sent.. He mailed me some of his shells to sell for him, including the ostergaardi, and I eagerly awaited their arrival. So imagine my disappointment when, after receiving them, I discovered that he had not found an ostergaardi, but a chinensis. Now then, as it turns out, in Hawaii a chinensis is almost as rare as rashleighana, but unfortunately, because the are common everywhere else in the world, a Hawaiian chinensis just isn't considered as valuable as it should be. . So, to determine the value of Tony's shell, I did some research and quickly discovered that there was something wrong with it, it was too pale! In fact, as I thought about it, I realized that one of the reasons why I'd thought that Tony had indeed collected an ostergaardi was because in the photos he had sent me, (see photo) the "ostergaardi" was white compared to the other cowries in the photo---it was as white as the rashleighana---and since there are very few white cowries found in Hawaii, I had no reason to doubt Tony's identification until I saw the shell. . It was definitely a chinensis, but an unusually pale one.... So, I called Tony and without him knowing why I was asking the question, I asked him if the shell had been sitting out on display for years and years, Tony told me, "No, until ten days ago all of my shells had been sitting in a box in my mom's closet for 47 years," something that was borne out by the pristine condition of his other cowries---cowries that had been patiently sitting in the same box with this one for decades. That's when the penny dropped---this was a story about somebody finding treasure in a box that had been sitting in their closet for decades! And the finder of that treasure was none other than the famous treasure hunter who'd collected them in the first place, Tony Wells, wow!. And what did he have in his mom's closet? A live collected rashleighana and as the photos show, a live collected albino chinensis! . Now then, even his story about collecting it is sensational---you see, chinensis like to hide in deep cracks of a reef during the daytime, so they are found only at night. And night dives back then weren't like they are today, no, as Tony's story about one of his night dives at Makaha Beach shows us, back then each dive had the potential of becoming a real adventure---. We did several night dives throughout the years. Makaha at that time was mostly houses, (no tall condos, they came later) and at that time there was a Cornet store with a very bright sign directly across from the sandy part of Makaha beach. The rest of the shoreline was coral reefs, and because of the big waves, very dangerous to exit on, and except for a few street lights and that huge Cornet store sign, it was pitch black. So, around 9:45pm, me and two buddies swam out about 100 yards and then dove for the bottom. . Unfortunately, I somehow got separated from my buddies, and then my flashlight went out, (no LED flashlights back then!) so I surfaced only to discover that the Cornet store was now closed, and that they had turned that damn sign off! Now I was really screwed because I didn't know where our sandy exit was---all I could see was some street lights in the distance, otherwise it was totally BLACK! So, I had no choice but to start heading towards the shore and pray like hell that I would find the sandy beach spot. Well, as I got closer to the shore I could hear the huge waves breaking on the beach and reefs, but I had no choice, I kept swimming towards the shore anyway.. Then suddenly I saw a huge black mass directly in front of me, and yup---it was a huge coral reef! Well, it was too late, I was already too close, my path was committed, but before I could figure out what to do, suddenly a big wave picked me up and threw me up onto the reef flat! Finding myself on the reef and out of the water, I quickly tore off my swim fins and started to make my way towards dry land. And lucky for me, I didn't get a single scratch from the incident. . Someone above must have been looking down on me, LOL.. And the crazy thing is, I don't think there's a shell collector in the world that doesn't have a story like this, about how they had risked life and limb just so they could go shell collecting! Truly amazing!. And as you can tell from the photos, this truly is an incredible, super-rare shell, a gorgeous one of a kind beauty that would look terrific sitting on your shelf!The ultra-perfect shell for a first-class collection. As for normal disclaimers, we do the best we can with photos, but color is tricky, especially since cell phone cameras automatically lean towards flesh-tone coloring, (that's why so many of the photos of shells on eBay show up with more orange than is really there, the camera changes the color, and damm if I can figure out how to stop that from happening, but I try, honest! As for feedback, as your know, sellers live and die by the feedback you leaved, (please leave fives!) so if you have a problem, just let me know! After all, I'm retired, and all messages go directly to my phone, so unless I'm out shell collecting I will get back to you pronto-like! Shell collecting! Now there's a phrase that brings smiles to your eyes, doesn't it! Anyhow, if you have read this far, you have my apologies and best wishes from those of us at IslandShells323. And don't forget, Home is where your collection is! ULTRA! RARE ALBINO! Cypraea chinensis hawaiiensis 31.4mm, Gmelin 1791, ONE OF A KIND BEAUTY from Hawaii. Buy 3 or more shells, get free shipping promotion---This promotion applies to any 3 shells bought at the same time, but unfortunately, this is a promotion we are doing, not eBay, so, we have to refund the shipping after you the buy 3 shells! If you have questions, we are here to answer them!Free shipping limitations---Please note, free shipping applies only to USA destinations.International sales---We use eBay's Global Shipping Program, eBay calculates the shipping and taxes, not us, and due to the pandemic, at this time eBay does not ship to everywhere, sorry. Please ask us if you have any questions.

Price: 700 USD

Location: Pearland, Texas

End Time: 2024-02-19T21:07:01.000Z

Shipping Cost: 5.95 USD