2 Hua State of Yan

The State of Yan occupied the northeastern corner of the Warring States world, centered around modern Hebei and Beijing, and remained something of a peripheral power until the late 4th century BC when it briefly rose to military prominence under King Zhao. Knife money of this type circulated within Yan's territory as a distinctly regional currency — the pointed-tip knife series is specific to Yan and stands apart from the Ming knives of neighboring states, a monetary boundary that tracked closely with political ones.

Hartill 6.21 places this within a well-documented but still debated typological sequence. The date range reflects ongoing scholarly disagreement about when Yan's knife coinage was finally suppressed following Qin's conquest of the region around 222 BC.