What are the coins of the Seven Heroes in the Warring States Period?
As long as the coins of the Seven Heroes in the Warring States refer to the seven strongest vassal states in the Warring States period, they are all the currencies of Qin, Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao and Wei.
At that time, the coins of Qi were mainly knife coins: ink knives, Qi broadsword, all knives and money. The coins in Chu are mainly copper coins, gold plates and cloth coins (also known as ant nose money and gold); Yan's coins are mainly knife coins, cloth coins and money; The history of Zhao, Wei and Han dynasties is called Sanjin, and its coins mainly include cloth coins and money. In addition, Zhao also minted knife coins. Finally, the currency of Qin is money;
What are the currencies of the Seven Heroes in the Warring States Period?
In addition to what I mentioned above, the coins of the Seven Heroes in the Warring States Period are collectively called cloth coins, knife coins, money, and ant nose money (face money). It was the four major monetary systems in the Warring States period.
The shovel shape of cloth coins evolved from the agricultural tools "money" and "shovel" in farming economy, which is why money is called "money". "Cloth" is a foreign word for "Qi". The circulation scope of cloth coins is mainly in the agricultural economic areas in the middle reaches of the Yellow River, such as Korea, Zhao, Wei and Yan. There are many kinds and shapes of cloth coins, which are generally engraved with characters, dates, place names and currency names. Wang Mang once minted cloth coins during the retro reform. Until today, people still regard cloth coins as a symbol of China's coin culture. The emblem of the People's Bank of China is a "human" image composed of three gold coins, and the emblem of the Agricultural Bank of China is also composed of gold coins and wheat ears. The existence of cloth coins can also be seen in the watermark pattern of RMB in China.
Knife coin knife cutting originated from fishing and hunting economic tools. Mainly distributed in the eastern vassal States of the Yellow River Basin, such as Qi, Yan and Zhao. Knife coins from different countries vary in size and shape, among which Qi's knife coins are the most simple and exquisite. The early Dao coins were similar to Dao. Later, some knife coins were outlined, which not only looked beautiful, but also enhanced the firmness of the coins, which could prevent the wear and tear of Qian Wen.
The round hole of money originated from the spinning wheel or butterfly ring of handicraft economic tools, which was mainly circulated in Qin and Wei countries. After the mid-Warring States period, Qin first used square holes to round money, and later Qi and Yan followed suit. All the money has ancient seal characters, including date, year, value or both. With its unique charm and superior convenience, money gradually replaced coins with other shapes, which laid the foundation for Qin Shihuang to unify the monetary system and determine the shape of China coins as square holes and circles.
Ant nose money and silver ant nose money, also known as grimace money, are copper coins cast in the southern state of Chu, with irregular shapes and inscriptions on them. There is a kind of Qian Wen that crawls on people's noses like ants, hence the name Ant Nose Money; The other is like an ugly ghost face, so it is named grimace money. It is more convenient to use when calculating the value by pieces. Gold coins were minted. Due to the rich gold in Chu, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Chu became the only country where gold coins prevailed. The earliest existing gold coin is Chu's "gold coin". "Ying" is the capital of Chu State (now Jiangling, Hubei Province), and "Gui" is the proper name of Chu State's weight unit or gold coin. It is plate-shaped and is printed and cast from a fixed metal plate. Each metal plate has 12 square, 14 square, 16 square, 20 square and 54 square, etc. Pay by cutting small pieces when using, each small piece 1. 4—— 1。 5 cm square, 0. 4——0。 5 cm, weighing about 15 g. Its gold content is generally above 90%, and some even as high as 99%.
The currency feature of this period is that the style of coinage often comes from bronze tools. The currencies circulating in different regions constitute their own systems, with many disciplines and different units and forms of measurement, so the monetary system is quite complicated. In the late Warring States period, due to the changes in politics and geography and the increasingly close economic exchanges in various places, various currencies inevitably exceeded the currency area in circulation. Therefore, the knife coin area also casts cloth coins and money, and the Chu coin area also casts cloth coins. Money and square hole coins used in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River were the most advanced forms of coinage at that time, both of which tended to save money. The round banknotes made in Qin used two weights, which laid the foundation for the unification of currency forms in the future.
The above information is about the monetary culture in the Warring States period. If you want to know more details, please pay attention!