Coin is the original currency in ancient China that used seashells.

The original shell coin was produced in the Shang Dynasty three thousand years ago. It is the ancestor of coins. It is a kind of shellfish currency processed from natural seashells. It was unearthed from Fuhao Tomb in Yinxu, Henan and other places. It dates from the 19th to the 16th century BC, about 3,500 years ago.

Extended information:

Shell shells are divided into shell shells, bone shells, stone shells, copper shells, etc., but the most commonly used ones are natural sea shells.

There are also many varieties of natural sea shells, including "Huo shell" (also known as tooth shell), "Pseudo-date shell", "Awen ribbon shell" (also known as big shell, tiger-striped shell), " "Lingwei Torreya" and so on, among which "goods shells" are more common. The shells with a long tooth groove on the surface are called "shell teeth" or "shell lips". The front of the shell is relatively flat, and the sides of the shell are slightly bulging. .

In order to make it easier to carry, people often drilled small holes into the back of the shell. In the early days, the holes were relatively small, which was called "small hole shell". Later, the perforations gradually expanded and were called "large-hole shells". Hole type cargo shell". During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the backs of the "huo shells" were almost flattened, and were called "grinded back shells."

As early as the late Xia Dynasty, shellfish had become a medium of exchange. A common tooth shell in the Shang Dynasty was often smoothed on the back or drilled with a hole to make it easier to carry. Its scientific name is Huo shell. Shellfish are shellfish that grow in tropical and subtropical shallow seas. They are small and exquisite, brightly colored, and durable. They have become a favorite decoration of primitive residents. Because they are moderate in size, easy to carry, and easy to count, with the development of social economy With the formation of commodity society, natural shellfish gradually served as the general equivalent of commodity exchange.

Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia - Beibi