I like pen shells, they aren’t exactly rare, but they are quite fragile and beautiful. They’re smooth and black but iridescent like oil floating on top of a puddle. It’s almost impossible to find them in anything but broken pieces.

They’re prettier in person, but you get the idea.

Large, whole conch shells are hard to come by for the usual beach comber. They’re pretty tough when they get this big, though. Not terribly fragile, but I think a good stomp would break it. I don’t think it would be considered valuable in a monetary way.

Also, with nice conchs like that, most of the time you find them (if you ever manage to) the sea has worn away the smooth pearly surface and beached the color away. Its not often you find a big conch that hasn’t been eroded.

How about sea scallop shells?

@augustlan, what happened to your A? Did you accidentally run it through on the hot setting?

@Jeruba lol4rl! My old A looked horrible (all blurry with jagged edges) in the blown-up size on my profile, so a friend made me a new one. Neither of us know how to make the A bigger. :(

Maybe I can help. I know how to make the A bigger, and it might still look ok when shrunk. However, this is the one people see all the time, not the one on your profile page.

I’ll send you a PM.

A pool shell would just run away.

Wentletraps are beautiful,delicate and prized. They are found in mant areas, including the Atlantic coast. There’s a species known as the “Precious Wentletrap”, which is a fantastic name.

@augustlan – As a malacologist, I must advise you that the shell you showed is a whelk, not a conch.

Rare shells for that part of the US would include fragile items such as the Arctic Paper Bubble and the Arctic Barrel Bubble, as well as sturdier critters like Noah’s Puncturella, Smooth Top Shell, and Needle Turret Shell.

Collectors also prize shells from other areas that wash ashore. I found a Lion’s Paw once on a New England beach, and an Angel Wing. These actually live far to the south but the empty shells can be washed ashore.

And it isn’t from Maine at all, but most Americans collectors prize finding a Junonia, a pretty but fairly sturdy shell.

@Darwin Well, hell… yet another misconception bites the dust! Thanks for the info. :)

@Jeruba Thanks for getting my A up to size!

@Harp & @Darwin, beautiful suggestions. Thank you. It looks to me as if the lion’s paw would be likely to smash if stomped on. It resembles a scallop shell, so it would need the least description. There’s also a potential for a little symbolism in the name.

@Darwin, @fundevogel‘s picture looked to me like what I used to think were mussel shells. I liked the dark iridescent blue lining. They’re not two names for the same thing, are they?

@Jeruba – @fundevogel‘s picture is indeed of part of a pen shell, which is not the same as a blue mussel, although both can have an iridescent blue interior.

Pen shells grow to be much larger and live half-buried in sand. Mussels attach themselves to rocks and hard surfaces. Both have a byssus, a mass of thready structures used to anchor the animal in its habitat.

And the Lion’s Paw actually is a member of the scallop family, the Pectinidae.

“Nobody knows you’re here, right. And nobody will know when you’re gone.” James was standing in front of the bookshelves once again, eyeing the display of seashells. His gaze had come to rest on one of Edward’s prize finds, a gorgeous scallop shell, large and intact, on whose surface a cluster of rippling red and white ribbons fanned out like spread fingers from the V at the bottom to the gracefully undulating circular rim. “That’s a lion’s paw, isn’t it? Nice specimen.” James feinted as if to pick it up, watched for Edward’s reflex reaction, and laughed. Aping a clawing gesture, he uttered a mock lion’s growl.
——
Ok?

Just fine. but I don’t like James. He’s a bad ‘un.

Thanks!

Yup, he’s my villain. A few minutes later, he does stomp on it, and it smashes into dozens of little bits. (Or should it smash into powder instead of discrete little chunks?)

Little bits and some powder probably.

I really don’t think there would be powder. I used to have a tiny lion paw and considering it’s size (less than and inch) it was pretty tough. There would have definitely been lots of little tiny shards if I smashed it, but not powder. And since its a bivalve it’s not going to have sand or other potentially powdery debris trapped inside it.