China's ancient money appeared very early, and primitive money, such as seashells, was widely used in Shang Dynasty. At the same time, the Shang Dynasty also developed a weighing currency based on copper.

After the Zhou Dynasty, due to the progress of metallurgical technology, the cost of coins was reduced, and copper coins gradually became popular. Copper coins in the Warring States period are divided into four systems: Yan Qi Dao Coin, San Jin Shovel Coin, Chu Yi Bi Coin and Zhou Qin Yuan Coin.

Knife coins made in the State of Qi are the best, and they have been popular in Qi, Yan, Zhongshan, Zhao and other countries, especially Qi and Yan. Qi's sword coins are most famous for broadswords.

Archaeological broadswords all have the words "French goods", which can prove that the Qi government has mastered the right to coin. The casting system in this country was influenced by the legalist thought.

Cloth coins, mainly popular in the three Jin dynasties, namely Korea, Zhao and Wei, are mostly shovel-shaped, similar to Qi and Yan's knife coins. Shouping cloth is the most popular, mainly used in Sanjin area.

As a big country, due to the war and trade, the cloth coins they used often spread to other regions, and there are also knife coins cast in other regions in the market. This shows that in addition to political factors, the role of the economy itself is also the reason for the formation of money.

After the Spring and Autumn Period, Chu mainly used shell-shaped money, also known as ant nose money. Ant nose money has traces of natural shell coins in Yin and Shang Dynasties, and its shape is relatively backward. There are many kinds of ant nose money, because its texture can be divided into five types: seashells, bone shells, wooden shells, mud shells and copper shells.

Because of its high value and portability, copper shells are widely circulated. Ant nose money has been unearthed in a wide range of areas, including Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong, Henan, Anhui, Hubei, Hunan, Shaanxi and other provinces. It can be seen that ant nose money is not only used in Chu, but also in other countries. Obviously, this is caused by the dual role of the market and the war.

Circular notes, mainly circulated in Zhou and Qin dynasties, mainly have two kinds of currencies: round holes and square holes, and their shapes are stipulated by political measures such as Shang Yang's reform in Qin State. Later, the circulation of round square hole money was wider, thanks to the implementation of Qin Huiwen.

The current data prove that Qin probably didn't coin other countries' currencies, so it can be speculated that the ruling group of Qin found that round hole money has advantages that other countries' currencies don't have. Moreover, the excavation of Qin State's half-money is basically consistent with its foreign expansion route at the end of the Warring States Period, which shows that Qin Shihuang's implementation of half-money is not sudden, but a natural development after Qin State realized the advantages of this kind of money for a long time.

The wide application of gold

During the Warring States period, the four major currency areas were gradually intertwined and the currencies were mixed. But after all, the monetary system is not unified, which restricts economic and trade activities, so the scope of gold circulation has expanded.

In the early Warring States period, gold became a representative unit in national financial use. The same is true of military spending. For example, Sun Tzu used a saying: Anyone who sends troops thousands of miles away will spend thousands of dollars a day on public service.

Later, with the prevalence of commodity economy in the Warring States period, the number of the wealthy class increased, and the gap between the rich and the poor widened, the use of gold became a common economic life feature of the wealthy class. This is a very common social effect and a general law of economic history.

With the development of private ownership of land, the income of aristocratic gardens in the Warring States period was also expressed in gold. According to the records of the Warring States Policy and the Western Zhou Dynasty Policy, I tasted the benefits of being warmed at the age of 80, and Zhou Jun was warmed at the age of 80. When he 120 gold, he was the king of things, and he won 40 gold without losing money at the party.

Wang Wei made Meng Maowen, limited to Zhou Jun, but also made a defense. In addition, buyers and sellers are also based on the payment of gold. For example, at the end of the Warring States period, when South Korea was short of money, it sold beauties. Jia Gui is a beauty, but the prince can't buy it, so Qin bought three daughters.

In the late pre-Qin period, there were more and more cases of gold trading in the market, and the levels were wider and wider. In the late Eastern Zhou Dynasty, gold also had such a political side. Han Feizi once mentioned that it is difficult for minister Wei Si to cross the city for guests, but it is difficult to close the city. Because of his connection with the city, he gave up gold and customs officials.

It can be seen that gold has been carried by businessmen and travelers at this time as a bribe to deal with the deliberate difficulties of small officials in customs clearance. In addition, there are many examples of using gold in birthdays, gifts, rewards, businesses, loans and relief activities.

Moreover, in such an international market, the flow of gold is also directly related to the strength of national strength. Shang Junshu Deqiang pointed out that a certain amount of gold and millet can be exchanged for equivalent things, and the amount of millet and gold is related to the rise and fall of the country. Although Shang Junshu pays more attention to millet, it also shows that gold has become an international currency.

Besides gold and millet, there are also gold and ivory, pearls and jade, silk and so on. It can be exchanged at one price, and the exchange area is very wide. Take the gold coins of Chu as an example. Archaeological work before 1985 has found such gold coins in Hubei, Henan, Shaanxi, Shandong and other provinces. This proves that gold has become a common trading medium in all countries during the Warring States period.

All of the above points to a conclusion that the popularity of gold in the pre-Qin period brought individual economies of various countries together into a single monetary system, which was enough to form a unified economic system structure.