The Shell

The primary "currency" of Expatria is the Shell, which is less a tangible currency so much as a show of good faith and an "I-Owe-You."
A Shell is typically written down in the following format:

I, (person giving Shell), owe (person you owe the Shell to) 1 Shell for (service/item provided)

With the signatures of both involved and the date. The context of why the Shell was issued is important, as not all Shells are equal value. (For instance, a Shell owed for giving you a free meal is different than one owed because they helped you repair your roof.) This Shell is then left with the person the Shell is owed to.
That person can now "cash in" the Shell (favor, IOU etc.) either with that person or with someone else in the community. This passes the debt on, with the related promise. Thus, an Expatriate may find someone (that they may or may not know) comes up to them with a Shell they wrote days, months, or even years ago to a different person:

"Hey, Joneth? My name is Aurabitha. I actually have a Shell here from Hewen that you gave him for repairing a net. Can I cash this in for that vase on the shelf behind you?"

If Joneth agrees to accept the Shell, Aurabitha gives it to him. Each time the Shell changes hands, it receives another signature from the person who now holds it and is the one who can "cash" it. In the example above, Joneth would sign the Shell one last time.
Once the person who originally wrote The Shell (Joneth in our example above) has repaid it in some way, the Shell is considered "cashed" and can be disposed of by dropping it in a box held by the Supply Chain committee.

Notes on The Shell

• The Supply Chain committee holds the responsibility of running an audit if somebody claims a Shell was not properly fulfilled; this rare occurence involves interviewing all those whose signatures are on The Shell and seeing where the value of the Shell was not respected.

• The Supply Chain committee and most general stores have a person on hand that will happily protect Shells from water damage and general wear-and-tear for free, given a Shell may be around for a long time before it is finally fulfilled.

• A person who is given a Shell can also decide to forgive the debt and dispose of the Shell entirely with the Supply Chain committee; this is commonly done because a debt is so old that it seems silly to collect now, or as an act of goodwill.

• In the case where somebody is no longer around to be held responsible for their Shell (leaving Expatria or dying, for example), the Supply Chain can be petitioned to refund the Shell for an equivalent sum from the Expatria gold store. (This is usually done in the case of highly valued Shells and the petitions are held at The Table during regular committee proceedings with a log kept for transparency.)

Item type

Currency & Deeds

Current Location

Expatria

Raw materials & Components

A shell is a written document, and as such is found on some sort of paper/scroll/papyrus/tablet like other writing would be. They're typically small, as a person may carry several around and they don't contain much information (as opposed to a formal business contract, for example).