Trade beads STILL NEED HELP ON THIS!

[MuskratMike]

I was given this small strand of "trade beads" and don't know anything about them. I was told they are Antique Venetian "African" trade beads. Some are round some are flat. Anyone know what these are and approx. how old they are. Any history of these kind of beads would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance for anyone's help.

[Spotted Bull]

We always called those watermelon beads. I've got a few strands like them.

[T.C.Albert]

Could drop Rex Reddick a line at Crazy Crow Trading Post.
I think he knows trade beads.
TA

[jrb]

African

[rich pierce]

Venetian trade beads were unchanged for centuries and traded all over the world. Once they left Italy they could end up anywhere from the Dakotas to Indonesia. There are probably centuries-old beads in barrels somewhere in Venice right now.

[jrb]

 If i really wanted to know about trade beads i'd get the book "1982 Proceedings of trade Bead conference", Rochester Museum of SCIENCE, and similar, and contact experts , such as Michael Galban, curator of Seneca Art and Culture- Ganondagon.,

[T*O*F]

African

Ditto, or possibly Czech.  Probably not antique.  I've got a whole necklace of the green striped ones starting with small beads and getting progressively larger toward the center.

[Tim Crosby]

 I would say Italian made, probably Venetian used in Africa and other places for trade/money. You can chase many
"Rabbit Holes" on beads. A lot depends on how much you like doing research (See "Rabbit Holes).

   Tim C.

[JCKelly]

Agree, www  Crazycrow dot com good for an introduction and some beads for sale. They were made in Europe (Amsterdam, Venice, say) and traded all over the world.
Think I'll look for a copy of that Trade Bead Conference my self.

[T.C.Albert]

http://www.museum.state.il.us/ismdepts/anthro/beads/beads_trade.html

A little more info on the topic in general.
TC

[Panzerschwein]

Common mushmellon style trade beads.

[jrb]

i use the chapter in the book i named above that shows how to use the "kidd&Kidd" classification system of glass beads. what you do is assign a series of numbers and letters, each which represent a certain characteristic of the bead. then you bing, google, etc. that sequence and try to find archaeological or bead research articles that feature that bead. it takes time, has worked very well for some beads i've found but of course if the bead isn't found in the USA and recorded by a researcher you'll probably have little luck identifying it.
i just binged "Kidd & Kidd bead typology" and the second article from the top is a pdf of the Kidd & Kidd system. once you assign a correct sequence to your bead, then you bing, etc. that sequence. also there are a vast number of archaeology site reports and books you might look through, such as academia.net. the key to researching a bead is to have the proper kidd sequence.

[foxm2015]

Try contacting Nawbin of Traverse City, Michigan.   They may be able to help you.

[ewoaf]

These are very late 19th or early 20th c traded to Africa. Common and not very collectible.

[nadjetdrew]

What are they made of? And what could you get in exchange for these beads?
I know people used them to trade goods but were any certain value assigned to any of these beads like it is to modern banknotes? They look cool and colorful, but maybe there are some among them that are rarer and, therefore, more expensive than the others.
I try to imagine what it was like to use such things for trade. I could buy something from boundbyhonor.net, for instance. It’s like the beginner’s version of money and was probably used before people started trading using precious metals and stones.

[Hungry Horse]

 The old ones of this type can be identified by the ware at their ends. Nice long tapered ones are usually of modern manufacture, while those that seem kind of short, with not much taper are usually classified as older. The same way of judging beads age is used when judging feather beads.

Hungry Horse

[Uncle Miltie]

These are Venetian beads made of glass mid 1800's through mid 1900's.  They were popular for trade into Africa and most that exist today come from traders who bring them here.  If you look up information on J. F. Sick bead sample cards you will likely find them there.  Please know much of what was written about old beads before 1990 is no longer accurate as more information on them continues to come to light.  Most of what you usually hear at rendezvous and like events is not accurate either.