China, Warring States, State of Chu, "Ant Nose" Money

The ant-nose coin, also known as the ghost-face coin, is a cowrie-shaped copper coin minted by the Chu State during the early Warring States period (400-200 BCE). These names derive from the shape and appearance on the obverse which most often bears one or two characters, which some believe either resembles a “ghost face” or “an ant crawling on a nose.” The coin has a convex face and a flat back, shaped with a rounded bottom and pointed top—often with a hole in the pointed tip. These small coins developed from early cowrie-shell exchange currency used during the Shang and Zhou dynasties.

Cowrie shells circulated extensively. Graves excavated from the Shang Dynasty sometimes included thousands of shells as an offering to Yan Wang, the judge of the underworld. However, because quantities of natural shells were limited, during the Warring States period, copper and bronze versions of the cowrie shells were cast as were other metal forms of money such as knives and spades. The metal shells were buried as funerary objects, though they attracted the attention of grave robbers. In response, symbolic burial money made from hardened clay gradually began to replace metal coins in tombs.

Examples of Chu ant-nose money have been unearthed across a wide area of China, including modern-day Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, and Shaanxi. Most surviving pieces are often heavily patinated after centuries underground; their unique shape easily makes them one of the most recognizable and studied forms of pre-imperial Chinese currency.

Each coin comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.