Types of ancient coins in China

Money in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period can be divided into four types: cloth money, knife money, love money and ant nose money (grimace money).

Cloth coins are mainly used in Sanjin area; Qi and Yan use knife coins; Qin used money, Wei used money and Chu used ant nose money (grimace money).

I. Specific distribution:

1, Qi in the east and Yan in the north mainly use knife coins. Knife coins are divided into "Yan Ming Dao" and "Qi Dao Hua".

2. Yi Qian, also known as Yi Jin and Huan Qian, is an ancient copper coin in China. Mainly spread in the Qin and Wei Dynasties during the Warring States Period.

3. Ant-nose money is the currency circulating in Chu State in Jianghuai Valley, which is transformed from imitation shells.

4. Cloth currency is the ancient currency of China. Because of its shovel shape, it appeared in the early Spring and Autumn Period, and began to be cast and circulated in the late Warring States Period. "Cloth" is a homonym of "Qi", which was commonly used in ancient times. Cloth coins evolved from bronze farm tools and were mainly used in Sanjin and Zhouli areas. According to the shape of cloth coins, it can be divided into two categories: empty cloth coins and flat cloth coins.

Second,

Knife coins evolved from the bronze cutting of tools in Shang and Zhou Dynasties, so the handle of knife coins has rings and cracks. The shapes of knife coins are needle-shaped, pointed, round-headed, arc-backed, etc. , mainly distributed in Qi and Yan countries in the east, and later developed to coexist with cloth coins in countries such as Zhao and Zhongshan. There are many kinds, including Qi Dao, Jimo Dao, Anyang Dao, Needle First Dao, Sharp First Dao, Round First Dao and Ming Dao. There are words cast on it. After Qin Shihuang unified China, he unified the monetary system and abandoned shellfish, knives and cloth. Later, Jin Cuodao became one of the coins minted by Wang Mang.