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Qi knife An Yang Zhi Fa Hua
| Issuer | Qi, State of |
|---|---|
| Year | 401 BC - 220 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Orientation | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
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| Obverse description | Elongated cast bronze knife blade with a curved back edge and a rounded terminal ring at the base, typical of Qi State large knife money. The flat blade field bears five incuse Chinese seal-script ideograms arranged vertically reading 安陽之法貨 (An Yang Zhi Fa Hua, meaning 'the legal currency of Anyang'). A raised border frames the inscription panel, and the surface shows characteristic casting texture with natural patination. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Chinese |
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| Additional information |
The knife money of Qi was produced across a remarkably long span of the Warring States period, a time when the Zhou monetary system had effectively collapsed and individual states minted their own currencies with no central coordination. Qi's knife coinage circulated alongside spade money from rival states, and the two forms almost never overlapped geographically — a clean reflection of how hard political boundaries had become by the fourth century BC.
The inscription referencing An Yang ties this piece to a specific controlled mint location, a practice Qi used to regulate output and authenticate currency against counterfeits — a persistent problem across all Warring States bronze coinage.