Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Ant-nose Money Tao
| Issuer | Chu, State of |
|---|---|
| Year | 400 BC - 220 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 3.12 g |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | 匋 (Translation: Tao) |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Plain |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Chu was the largest of the Warring States kingdoms by territory, and its monetary system diverged sharply from the spade and knife coins favored in the north. These cast bronze pieces circulated across a region stretching from the Yangtze basin into modern Hunan and Hubei — an economy running on commodity agriculture and lacquerware rather than the grain-and-silk tribute systems of rival states. The face markings, whatever their original meaning, appear to derive from cowrie shell inscriptions, suggesting a deliberate continuity with an older commodity-money tradition.