Some treasures aren’t buried in chests. They’re washed up on the shoreline, tucked between rocks and sitting in the sand waiting to be found.

And if you grew up anywhere near the Aussie coast, chances are you've probably come home from the beach with a pocket full of them.

Shells have always had a funny way of feeling valuable. You spot a good one on the sand and suddenly you're carrying it around for the rest of the day, carefully keeping it somewhere safe before adding it to the collection at home.

Turns out, people have been doing something pretty similar for thousands of years. 

And that little piece of ocean history became
the inspiration behind Mermaid Money.

Long before tapping your phone, plastic cards or even the coins rattling around the bottom of your beach bag, shells were used as a form of currency in different parts of the world.

Cowrie shells in particular became widely used in trade across parts of Africa and Asia, with their use as money spanning centuries.

They were small, portable, durable and instantly recognisable — and the further you travelled from the coastline, the more difficult they could be to come by.

In other words, shells really were worth something.

We loved that idea.

For a brand called Sea Coins, there was something pretty fitting about discovering that some of the ocean's smallest treasures had once been used as actual currency.

So naturally, we had to put them on a hat.

Meet Mermaid Money

Mermaid Money takes inspiration from those little treasures you find washed up along the coastline. 

The design features a soft sage green base with delicate white shell details, creating something a little calmer and more understated than some of our brighter Sea Coins prints.

The colours remind us of seagrass, coastal scrub, sandy tracks down to the beach and those muted greens you find all along the Australian coastline.

It's coastal without screaming coastal.

Easy to chuck on. Easy to wear. And made to become one of those hats that permanently lives in the car, boat or beach bag.

Made for Days Around the Water

Of course, we weren't just going to make it look pretty.

Mermaid Money has all the practical Sea Coins features built for long days outside and around the water.

It's made for the mornings that start with a quick swim and somehow turn into an entire day at the beach. For throwing the boards in the car, heading out fishing, jumping off the boat, exploring rock pools, diving a reef or wandering down the beach looking for shells.

Because our hats aren't really designed to stay clean and tucked away in a cupboard.

They're designed to get salty.

Mermaid Money features our lightweight, quick-drying construction, water-friendly design, adjustable fit and plenty of coverage from the Aussie sun — so it's ready to follow wherever the day takes you.

The Ocean's Kind of Wealth

There's something pretty special about the things we decide are valuable.

For us, the best kind of wealth probably isn't sitting in a bank account.

It's having nowhere you need to be for the afternoon. It's finding a ridiculous shell and deciding you absolutely need to keep it. It's the first jump off the boat, an empty beach, a good bit of swell, clear water over the reef or pulling up somewhere along the coast and staying longer than planned.

It's the little things we collect along the way — sometimes literally.

And that's what Mermaid Money is all about.

A little nod to the ocean's original currency and a reminder that some of the best things in life have been washing up on our shores all along.

Mermaid Money is available now.

Go out there and live life to the brim. 🌊🐚