Ant-nose Money 'Ghost face' type, with upper line

Ant-nose money — named by Western collectors for a fancied resemblance to an insect's face — circulated in the Chu state during the Warring States period, when no unified coinage standard existed across the Chinese territories. Chu's bronze spade and knife coins from neighboring states did not circulate here; Chu maintained its own monetary tradition entirely. The "ghost face" type designation reflects a Chinese interpretive tradition, reading the cast markings as a stylized character, though scholars still dispute whether the impressions are purely decorative, abbreviated script, or value indicators. The upper line variant distinguishes this from closely related types in the Hartill sequence.