FROM COWRIE SHELLS TO ECOMMERCE BY MICHELE PELOSSI
by Michele Pelossi
Michele Pelossi is an Attorney at Law specialized in intellectual property, media and communication law. He has studied at the University of Geneva, London Guildhall University and University of Wisconsin, Madison. His activity brought him around the world: he has practiced law in Brazil and been active in related fields in Hong Kong and China. He is currently teaching media and communication law at the University of Lugano.
Ancient objects have at all times fascinated him. In particular anything linked to the history of trade and commerce.
It all started with a silver Taler that my grandfather gave me when I was seven years of age. In a child’s hand that was a nice-looking big solid object. I still bear in mind the impressive weight of it. At that time my grandfather used to have a wooden box filled with all sorts of old things. Mostly pre-war coins, some medals and a batch of photos of times long gone by. Some years later I discovered in my grandfather’s antique desk a cigar box full of old banknotes. Millions, or rather billions of old Reichsmarks caught my impressionable imagination! Naturally, I asked him why he didn’t go to a bank to exchange them for new money. It was at that time that I found out about inflation and its consequences. My first lesson in economics! Later that year my father gave me a leather bag and a wallet full of coins and banknotes left over from his business trips around the world. What a great opportunity to learn about the history, culture or political systems of far away places. Holding one small metal disc or leaf of paper could make me explore entire worlds. It was a point of contact between myself and other individuals that lived in various times and settings. Kings and conquerors, pirates and privateers, sailors and common people, my imagination had no limits.
Later I started focusing on what I now call the “historic perspective”. An expression I use to outline my attempt to understand human history through the diverse objects that I happen to hold in my hands. In all these years of collecting I have come across a variety of strange items. Some of which have been unquestionably identified in the past by some important numismatist. But some others have yet to be clearly classified by the flock of enlightened researchers that dwell in this extensive meadow.
Set at the crossroad between social anthropology and numismatics, this vast field is an excellent opportunity to look at the roots of human history. By illustrating a selection of objects that different people at different times have used as a means to exchange goods between them, I will try to guide you through the fascinating chronicle of humankind.
Just to give you an idea of the sort of things we will set eyes on in this column, I picked out a few that I like especially. I will try to develop the articles of my column in a chronological manner, but am aware that this will at times be rather difficult. Enough words for now! Have a look at the items. I will see you next month, and go back three million years to stumble upon some of our ancestors and their way of living. Enjoy the journey!
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