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Ancient Chinese coins have a long history dating as far back as 2000 BC when China was ruled by the Xia dynasty. These coins had many different variations. From size, shape, to design. These coins were unique with each passing dynasty.

The Western Zhou and Shang eras brought us several ancient Chinese coins. In the beginning, the first coins were known as cowry money. When they first came out, the were only made of shells, but eventually they were made from bone. In 221 BC, the cowry was made illegal.

During the Spring-Autumn and Warring States era hollow-shaft spade coins were used. Also, some of the first coins resembled knives. They were large and made with a hole at the top for stringing. One kind was called “The Ming” after the city. It was around from 400BC to 225 BC. They, also, had a coin called the “Bu” spade coin. This era also had some of the first round coins.

Between 221 BC and 207 BC was the Qin dynasty. This was the first time they used precious metals such as bronze and gold to make coins. These were not the first metal coins by any means, however. Metal coins existed between 600 BC and 300 BC during the Pre-Chou and Chou dynasties.

Ancient coins that are not worth much today considering how old they are, are the Pan Liang coins. They were around for at least 2000 years. Up until 1911 AD, they were still in use. The coins were made between 140 BC to 118 BC. It is a round coin with a square in the middle.

Minting coins were first made into a state monopoly during the Han dynasty which roughly lasted around 400 years, between 206 BC to 220 AD. In the first century alone over 220,000 strings were made. Each contained 1000 coins. In the Western Han, casting mould in bronze became used. This was done in order to easily standardize the coins.

The Wu-Ch’U were introduced under the Emperor Yuan- shou. This coin was much like the Pan Liang except the rim was raised to prevent filling. This kept the coin from wearing out as quickly as the coins before it. This coin became used over the next 6 centuries in various forms.

When the Mongols were ruling China they produced coins, but one coin in particular had to be stopped from being used. This coin was so nice it was being hoarded by the people. The Mongols had to eventually make them trade it out. They promised punishment if this did not happen.

The coins of the ancient Chinese varied widely to begin with. After a while, though, they all tended to be round with a square center. Most were eventually made with some kind of metal, usually bronze. The history of each coin is long and belongs to one of the many dynasties China has had over the centuries.

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