There are several kinds of ancient Chinese coins

1. Shellfish currency Shellfish currency: shells, shellfish coins can be said to be China's earliest and longest continuation of the use of a physical currency, until the end of the Ming Dynasty and the early Qing Dynasty, the Yunnan minority areas are still using this currency. The conditions for shells to become currency are as follows: firstly, they have a practical function of their own (such as their use as decorations); secondly, they have natural units; thirdly, they are sturdy and durable; and fourthly, they are easy to carry. Especially its natural units, in the ancient times when the technology of melting metal is not yet developed, has his unique natural advantages. Ancient people used the shell money, mostly with the rope to wear them into a string, so a string also becomes a unit. The earliest monetary unit of shell money is "peng", that is, ten pieces into a string, two strings for a peng. In China's ancient oracle bone inscriptions, shellfish peng two words are often linked together, the meaning of the word shellfish, and now the word "wealth" is almost the same. So far in the Chinese writing, many words related to the meaning of money, such as wealth, noble, poor, low and so on, are to shell as a bias. 2. metal currency metal currency: (a) bronze tools: since the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Spring and Autumn Period, due to the continuous improvement of the bronze production technology, a large number of production tools made of bronze, the importance of the bronze tools has been as a decorative use of shells, so in the exchange, the trade process, some tools of production such as knives, knives, and other tools, such as the use of bronze tools, the use of bronze tools, the use of bronze tools, and so on. Therefore, in the process of exchange and trade, some production tools such as knives, shovels, yarn wheels became means of circulation and means of payment developed into general equivalents. Bronze tools instead of shells as money, there are two reasons: First, because the actual number of shells used as money is not much, can not cope with the increasing market demand. Secondly, because the practical value of the production tools than can only be used as decorative shells to be greater.　(ii) Bronze money: from the Spring and Autumn period to the Warring States period, those bronze tools gradually evolved into bronze money, because the tools as the general equivalent of market circulation, after all, too bulky, exchange is too inconvenient. People began to accept the bronze currency shaped like tools. During the Warring States period, there were three main systems of currency: cloth coins, knife coins, and ring money. Cloth coins Cloth coins were not made of cloth, there was no cloth at that time, but a kind of metal minted coins evolved after the spade of agricultural tools. The earliest cloth coins retained the shape of a shovel. The cloth coins were used in a wide range of countries, including Jin in the Spring and Autumn Period and Zhao, Han and Wei in the Warring States Period. Knife Coins Knife coins were evolved from practical knives, which were a kind of fishing and hunting tools at that time. The circulation range of knife coins was not as wide as that of cloth coins, favoring the eastern states of Qi and Yan. This is because the people in the western part of the country were mainly engaged in farming, so they used agricultural tools as currency. The eastern region was near the sea and had many rivers, so the people were mostly engaged in fishing and hunting, so they used knife coins as currency. Ring money Ring money is round with a hole in the center. There were drilled stone beads in the Paleolithic period and stone rings and beads in the Neolithic period. In China's Yangshao ancient cultural sites, there have been excavated many earthen and stone spinning wheels, are round with a hole in the center, and the early ring money is similar to the ring money, so the ring money is most likely evolved from the spinning wheel. The ancient bik is the jade ring. Ring money varies in size, with more or less writing on it, and it circulated in a much smaller range than cloth coins and knife coins. According to experts, ring money was the early currency of the Qin state.　Knife coins, cloth coins, ring money are tangible metal currency, letter-shaped currency is initially to reduce its weight and save its form, to later change the form and only its name, this kind of currency is from the shell money and other natural form of money to metal minting transition of a tendency system. In our country, their emergence, has the historical role of carrying on the past, following the past. Qin half-two coins (3) Qin half-two coins: After the unification of the whole country by Qin Shi Huang, the coinage system of Qin was introduced to the whole country, with gold as the upper coin, the unit of which was taels, i.e., twenty taels, and copper coins as the lower coin, i.e., "half-two" coins. Gold was the upper coinage because it was limited to the payment of large sums of money, such as rewards from the emperor. The daily private transactions, the "half-two" money, the Qin Dynasty "half-two" money, marking the emergence of Chinese metal currency into a new period, that is, the name of the weight and the name of the currency unity of the weight of the currency. Five-baht coins of the Han Dynasty (4) Five-baht coins of the Han Dynasty: After the establishment of the Han Dynasty, five-baht coins began to be minted in the fifth year of Emperor Wudi's Yuanhao (118 B.C.). The five-baht coins were not extinguished until the Sui Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty. The five-baht coin was one of the longest-used and most successful coins in Chinese history. In terms of weight, the five-baht coin was the standard currency, and even after the announcement of the cessation of the five-baht in the fourth year of the Tang Dynasty's Wude period, the weight of the new coins continued to be based on the five-baht as the standard. Wude four years (621) in July, the abolition of five baht money, the line of Kaiyuan Tongbao money, diameter of eight cents, weighing two baht 4絫, the accumulation of ten text weighs one or two, one thousand text weighs six pounds and four taels." From then on, "money" became a unit of weight, and the decimal system of ten coins to one or two taels was born. "Kaiyuan" Tongbao often let us look at the literal meaning, that Tang Taizong Kaiyuan years casting, in fact, "Kaiyuan" means "start a new era" means; "Tongbao" is "in the domestic pass treasure goods" means. Kaiyuan tongbao money came out, ended since the western han dynasty continued for more than seven hundred years to weight five baht named minting tradition, created the tongbao, yuanyuanbao money system, since the tang dynasty, coins are no longer to weight for the name, but instead of the name of the "treasure", or tongbao, or yuanyuanbao, or heavy treasure, or other what treasure. Since the Wude four years from the minting of the Kaiyuan Tongbao money, to 1916 "Hongxian Tongbao" stop, Tongbao, Yuanbao money system has been used for nearly 1,300 years, and its vitality of the long time, in the world's history of money is rare. Ming dynasty silver (6) Ming dynasty silver became legal tender. With the recovery of the commodity economy and high, coupled with the huge trade surplus since the middle and late Ming Dynasty, a large inflow of overseas silver, the use of silver is becoming more and more widespread, and became the main legal tender, the formation of a silver-based, supplemented by money, money, silver parallel currency circulation system. Silver coins have silver two and silver dollars. China's long-term use of silver, belonging to the weighing currency, silver cake, silver ingots, silver dollar and fractional silver and other forms, the use of color, weighing. Overseas inflow of silver is mostly silver dollars, the value of stable, by the coastal provinces of merchants welcome and widely used. After the Opium War, provinces have cast Longyang - silver dollar with dragon pattern. Silver prices moderate and stable, its widespread use facilitated commodity trade, promoting the accumulation of commercial capital. 3. Paper money Paper money: the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, the commodity economy has a greater development, trade has also increased, "each transaction, moving 100,000", so the demand for money is also growing. At that time, the popular currency on the market is copper, silver and iron money, individual areas are also prevalent in the iron money, due to the iron money is very heavy (large one thousand money weighing twenty-five pounds, medium also has thirteen pounds), carry the use of extremely inconvenient, seriously affecting the circulation of money and the development of the commodity economy. Song Zhenzong early years, sixteen wealthy merchants in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, issued a joint than the metal coins easy to carry paper money - "Jiaoci". "Jiaozi" is a Sichuan dialect, "Zi" is the usual end of the Sichuan language, "cross" is the meaning of the meeting, together, referring to the two coupons together, can be exchanged for cash. It is in a small piece of paper, printed with pictures of houses, trees and people, and make a code to prevent others from imitating the print: the emergence of Jiaosi instead of iron money. This is the beginning of the use of paper money in China, but also the world's earliest paper money, is a major progress in the history of China's monetary development. Jiaosi can be used in the market, but also to the "Jiaosi store" exchange of cash, the old and new Jiaosi exchange once every three years. Song Renzong Tian Sheng first year (A.D. 1023), the hand over by the government unified issue, each issue of the amount is limited, with iron money as a backup gold. In the fourth year of Chongning of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty (1105 A.D.), the name was changed to "Qianxin", which was used to replace the devalued "Jiaoci". In the Southern Song Dynasty, it was renamed "Guanzi" and "Huizi". In the Yuan Dynasty, banknotes were introduced as the main currency, which was the most prosperous period of banknotes circulation in Chinese history, and also the earliest regime in the world to introduce pure banknotes circulation. In the first year of the Yuan Dynasty (1260 A.D.), the first non-convertible paper currency "Zhongtong Baozhi" appeared, and was used for a long time in the Yuan Dynasty. In 1294 AD, this "Zhongtong Baozhi" was spread to Persia, and from Persia to other countries. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, paper money was still issued, but it was used together with metal coins and was not widely circulated. In modern times, paper money has been widely circulated, and gradually replaced the metal coins.