Item number: A1246

Year: 403-221 BC

Material: Bronze

Size: 103.6 x 30.5 x 1.7 mm

Weight: 37.5 g

Provenance: Fuchin Coin 2019

This is a rare and unusual type of “Pei Bu Dang Jin” Spade Money, part of ancient China’s spade coinage system, primarily circulated in northern Chu territory during the late Warring States period. The coin has a slender shape, with the waist slightly tapered inward and a hole at the top designed for stringing coins together. Its surface is covered in a green patina, typical of aged bronze artifacts.

A vertical line runs down the centre on both sides of the coin. On the obverse, the four corners are inscribed with the characters “Pei Bu Dang Jin” (旆布當釿), indicating its denomination. The reverse has the characters “Ten Huo” (十貨) engraved on either side of the waist, which scholars interpret to mean that one Pei Bu spade coin was equivalent to ten “ant-nose coins” (蟻鼻錢), a currency commonly used in State of Chu at the time.

Spade money, also referred to in historical texts as “鎛” or homophonously as “布,” were metal coins shaped like spades, an agricultural tool. As the first form of metallic currency in Chinese history, spade money often appears in the logos of financial departments and banking institutions in regions such as China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. The development of spade money dates from the late Shang Dynasty to the Warring States period, with the Three Jins region (Han, Zhao, and Wei) serving as its core and giving rise to various forms. 

物件編號: A1246

年代: 公元前 403-221 年

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 103.6 x 30.5 x 1.7 mm

重量: 37.5 g

來源: 福君錢幣 2019

這是在中國古代的布幣系統中，外型較為怪異奇特的「旆布當釿」，主要流通於戰國晚期的楚國北部。錢幣型態較為瘦長，腰部稍微向內縮，頂部有一個串聯錢幣的孔洞，整體為銅綠色包漿覆蓋。錢幣兩面的中央有一條豎線，正面的四個角落鐫刻「旆布當釿」，背面則在腰部左右兩側鐫刻「十貨」。根據學者判讀，這代表一枚旆布當釿能兌換當時楚國流通的十枚蟻鼻錢。

布幣是仿造鏟形農具的金屬錢幣，史書上寫作「鎛」或同音字「布」。由於布幣是中國歷史上第一種金屬貨幣，經常能在中國、香港和臺灣等地的財政部門和銀行機構標誌裡發現布幣。布幣從商朝末期發展到戰國時代，以三晉地區(韓、趙、魏)為核心已延伸出多種形態。