ULTRA-RARE! Cypraea Rashleighana #1 22.3mm LIVE COLLECTED from Hawaii

Description: IMPORTANT SHIPPING NEWS--- The Houston Post appears to be working, so because of the expense to everyone, we are switching back to USPS. Thank you for your patience! 11 11 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-gem steps out of the crowd... shells that take your breath away and are a joy to own...an elite shell--- Cypraea Rashleighana #1 22.3mm, Melville 1888, ULTRA-RARE LIVE COLLECTED "Hawaiian cypraea." . Found 20 meters, amongst dead branch coral off the Haleiwa coastline on Oahu, Hawaii. Live collected makes this an extremely rare shell. This shell, collected by Andy Butler in 1971 and given to my mom, Ruth Fair, (Andy had four or five live rashleighanas in his own aquarium at the time...) it roamed around alive in our aquarium for almost a year before becoming (quite unintentionally on our part) an expensive treat for a textile cone I was trying to grow past the world record... . True story. The cone in question was only 1mm short of the record.,, and no, either from the guilt of having eaten our cherished rashleighana, or from the stress of having to live up to the high-expectations we were putting on it to beat the record, (or both) it too soon died, thus that murderous-failure-of-a-shell added dashed hopes to our very great sorrow… Andy, Tom Richards, Stu Lillico, and a couple others of a very select group of divers collected quite a few rashleighanas, along with so many cyp. tessellatas, they stopped picking them up, because, so they said, They’re so common! And to make matters worse, for some reason they wouldn't reveal exactly where they were seeing and leaving all of those treasures... and no effort by the entire Hawaiian Shell Club ever got more than a You should find one too! response.... The lucky rats.... And now, decades later, the secret of where they can be found seems to be lost… but you can be sure, just like in the case of so many other extremely rare shells that are now being found regularly, they’re there, just waiting for someone to come along, find them, and then be in the position to smugly say, Oh, don't you have a live collected rashleighana too? (I told Dave and Daryl where to look, but they said the ocean is mighty big off the coast of Haleiwa, though what that has got to do with them just swooping out there and grabbing up a bagful of rashleighanas and tessellatas is a mystery to me, after all, they've got a boat!) Anyhow, for the rest of us, it looks like the only way we will get a live collected rashleighana is if we find one on eBay, which brings us back to this shell--- and just think, it's not every day one can buy an ultra-rare shell that makes one both the envy of our enemies and our friends, and would look fantastic sitting on your shelf! An ultra, ultra-rare shell for a first-rate collection... As for normal disclaimers and such... I have tried my best to make sure the photos are accurate color-wise, but as everyone knows, color is a... well, it's tough. Between my phone changing the color due to the color of the shell, the background, the phase of the moon AND it changing when I post it on eBay, and then knowing that your phone or laptop is going to do weird things to it color-wise too, well, let's just say, I tried my best, and I hope you will think so too when you hold your new beauty in your hands for the first time.Second, like everyone else selling on eBay, I live and die by the feedback you leave, (please leave me fives!) so, with that in mind, please remember that I am anxiously sitting by my phone in case someone needs me to help them with something. Being retired, I have too much time on my hands, so if you have a problem let me know, and if I'm not helping one of the little ones with a book report, I'll get back to you pronto...Book reports! Huh, I remember the days when I had to do my own book reports, not get grand-papa to do it for me! But I'm a pushover for Please! and it is kind of fun sharing what I know now, though the subjects are a little strange... had to do one the other day on drag-racing, and though why anyone would be interested in a bunch of grown men racing down the street in dresses I do not know, but I did the report anyway, turned it in, and got a great grade for the little one to boot!Anyhow, if you have read this far, I really do apologize, and send heartfelt wishes from those of us at Island Shells for happy collecting! Enjoy your new treasures and remember, home is where your collection is! Cypraea Rashleighana #1 22.3mm, Melville 1888, ULTRA-RARE LIVE COLLECTED "Hawaiian cypraea." 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: 5159.2 USD

Location: Pearland, Texas

End Time: 2024-02-26T20:08:26.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD