Ant-nose Money Jun

Ant-nose money (蚁鼻钱) takes its name from the raised markings on the face, which later observers likened to an ant perched on a nose — though the characters themselves are almost certainly derived from cowrie shell inscriptions, reflecting the direct lineage from shell currency that these bronzes replaced in the Chu economy. The state of Chu was notably resistant to the spade and knife coinages dominant elsewhere in the Warring States period, maintaining this distinctive facial form for roughly two centuries while its rivals standardized toward flat, handled types.