Are the original coins everywhere? What does it look like? More than 3,000 years ago, during the Shang Dynasty, people began to use shells as intermediaries in the process of commodity exchange. At this time, the academician's money looks like a shell, or the shell of some marine life. According to historical records, in Shang dynasty, seashells were used as money, and seashells were produced in the sea, so it should not be difficult to find them. But why didn't people go to the seaside to pick up shells at that time? It should be pointed out that seashells grow along the coast of the ocean, with bright colors, smoothness and durability. According to the types of shellfish, large shellfish include tiger-spotted shellfish, oat shellfish, millet-spotted eyeball and snakehead eyeball, while small shellfish are mainly cargo shellfish and jujube shellfish, which are found in rocks in the East China Sea and the South China Sea. The state has very strict management measures for these currencies exchanged as commodities. Not only does the country issue northern coins, but these northern coins will also be polished by craftsmen and drilled and polished in two sections, which is convenient to carry.

In the coastal areas where seashells are common, it should not be difficult to realize the idea of forging seashells even if they are polished manually. After all, the polished coin at that time did not have the anti-counterfeiting mark printed on modern paper money, so it was very easy to confuse the fake with the real. In fact, the reason why no one forges coins by themselves is mainly because the seashells needed for coins must be intact, and each coin also requires varieties, so even though there are a large number of seashells in coastal areas, there are very few seashells that can be used to make coins.

In the middle and late Shang Dynasty, the continuous reproduction of human beings promoted the increase of national population, the rise of labor force, the prosperity of handicraft industry and the frequent commercial exchanges. People's demand for shell coins has also increased greatly, but complete and suitable shells can't meet the social needs. To solve this problem, "anti-shellfish" began to appear. Shell protection is to imitate the shape of small shells with stones, bones, mussels, pottery and other materials, of which the most valuable is pearl jade shells.

At that time, pearls and Yu Pei were the most valuable currencies, which many ordinary people could not own. Since the late Shang Dynasty, copper coins imitating copper began to circulate in large quantities, becoming the earliest metal coins in China, which laid the foundation for the emergence of copper coins in later generations. However, the original metal for making copper shells is in the hands of nobles, and the quantity control is very strict. Even if ordinary people steal a lot of copper, they dare not make it at will, otherwise it will be easily seized. So experts will say that those who don't pick up their shells are smart people. After all, it's not as simple as we thought. Real shells are hard to pick up, and copying copper shells without permission is easy to be convicted. It is better to earn money honestly.