The Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period was an important period in the history of the mainland when slavery was transformed into feudalism, with frequent wars and competitions between countries, as well as a period of rapid political and economic development, and a hundred flowers blooming in the ideological circles. With the booming commodity economy, the demand for circulating money is growing day by day, and the maturity of metal casting technology provides the necessary conditions for a large number of metal coins. The currency of this period is characterized by a wide variety of currencies and a variety of currency systems. Due to the weakness of the Zhou Dynasty, the countries were independent, the economy was self-contained, and the coinage and circulation also had their own characteristics, forming a special situation of multi-currency system and multi-currency coexistence. In terms of shape and distribution, currencies are mainly divided into four types: cloth coins, knife coins, round coins and ant nose coins.
1. [Cloth Coin]
Cloth coins, this ancient currency, are also known as shovel cloth because of their shape-like shovel shape. It originated in the early Spring and Autumn period and was still in circulation until the late Warring States period. Cloth coins evolved from bronze agricultural tools, and were mainly circulated in the Sanjin and Liangzhou regions. According to the shape, cloth coins can be divided into two categories: empty and flat. The early cloth coins retained the appearance of tools, with a handle of the chisel, which appeared primitive and heavy, so it was called empty head cloth. With the passage of time, the cloth coin gradually became thinner and lighter, and the body of the coin became completely flaky, which is called a flat cloth. Flat cloth is often cast with the name of a place or a word indicating weight. During the New Dynasty, Wang Mang also minted cloth coins.
Cloth coins, a bronze shovel-shaped currency of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, were widely circulated in the middle of the Warring States period after they appeared in the late Spring and Autumn period. It is derived from the bronze agricultural implement, which is named because of its shape like a shovel. The early cloth coins were hollow in the head, and there was a handle when it was used as a tool, which was called the empty first cloth. Later, it evolved into a flat cloth, and the chisel was removed, and the body of the coin became a sheet, which was easy to mint and carry. Characters are often cast on the flat cloth, such as the place names "Anyi", "Jinyang", etc., as well as currency units such as "Yiyi", "Twelve Zhu (baht)" and so on. The shape of the coin suggests that the region once used a hammer-shaped agricultural tool as a medium of exchange. Later, Wang Mang went back and re-minted cloth coins for a time. Cloth coins are a general term for shovel-shaped currencies such as empty and flat cloth minted during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and its name derives from its shape.
2. [Knife Coins]
Knife coins, originated from the Shang and Zhou dynasties of bronze sharpening tools, with a ring at the end of the handle, a crack on the handle, different shapes, there are needle head knife, sharp head knife, round head knife, arc back knife, etc. It mainly circulated in the Qi Kingdom in the east and the Yan Kingdom in the north, and later gradually expanded to Zhao, Zhongshan and other countries, coexisting with cloth coins. There are many types of knife coins, including Qi knife, Jimo knife, Anyang knife, needle knife, pointed knife, round knife and Ming knife. After Qin Shi Huang unified China, he unified the currency system and abolished currencies such as shellfish, knives, and cloth. Among the coins minted by Wang Mang later, there are also gold wrong knives.
The kingdoms of Qi in the east and Yan in the north mainly used knife coins. Knife coins are divided into two categories: "Yanming Knife" and "Qi Knife". The shape of the knife coin is borrowed from the knife tools of the northern nomads such as Shanjung and Beidi. Because the Qi knife surface has the word "Hua", it is called "Daohua". The back of the knife coin is divided into arc back, folded back and straight back, and the knife head has a difference between flat head and pointed head. It is a type of bronze coinage in the early days of the continent.
3. 【圜钱】
Yuan money, also known as yuan gold and ring money, is a kind of ancient copper coin. It was mainly circulated in the Qin and Wei states during the Warring States period. The shape is round, with a round hole in the center on which the text is cast. As for its origin, there is a theory that it evolved from the spinning wheel, and another theory is that it evolved from the bihuan. Yuan Qian is the predecessor of square hole money.
"Yuanqian" is a type of round copper currency minted during the Warring States Period, also known as "Yuanhua" or simply "Huan Qian". It is one of the four major systems of copper coinage in the pre-Qin period of the mainland, and mainly exists as the coinage form of the Qin state. Coins can be divided into two categories: one is the round round hole, which is more primitive, and the other is the round square hole, which gradually evolved from the round hole. In the beginning, the piercing was relatively narrow, but later it gradually became larger. The obverse of the coin bears an inscription, while the reverse side has no text.
4. [Ant Nose Money]
Antnose money is the currency circulating in Chu in the Jianghuai Valley, which is converted from imitation shellfish. Because the economy and culture of Chu were relatively backward compared with the Central Plains countries, and the use of tools such as plutonium, knives, and spinning wheels was also relatively late, the copper coinage followed the form of imitation shellfish. The shape of the ant-nose coin is oval, with a protruding front and a flattened back, resembling a shell but smaller in size.
Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, ant-nose money has been unearthed in Henan, Jiangsu and other places. Grimace money is found in Hubei, Hunan, Henan, Jiangsu, Anhui and other places. In 1963, 5,000 grimace coins were unearthed at Xiaogan Wild Boar Lake in Hubei Province, with the word "curse" on the face and an average weight of about 4.37 grams. Judging from the location, burial and number of excavations, the ant-nose coins were minted in the early Warring States period (5th century BC), while the grimace coins were minted in the mid-to-late Warring States period around the 4th-3rd century BC. The territory of Chu was not vast at first, but with the gradual expansion of the territory, the circulation range of ant-nose money and grimace money also expanded, and gradually formed an independent monetary system in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.