I just scored this one off of eBay for about a fifth of the going rate. It looks authentic to me, but I welcome any opinions from my fellow collectors. This is a very high- grade specimen that is a significant upgrade to mine. There is a lot of "flashing" present on the rims (extra metal from the casting process that was usually filed off), which means this coin either missed the filing process or was never placed into circulation. This is one of the highest-grade examples of this type I have seen, so it could very well be uncirculated. Here is a very similar one sold by Stephen Album: https://www.sixbid.com/browse.html?auction=2160&category=43118&lot=1835147 The pointed-foot spades are the link between the pointed hollow-handle spades (an example is pictured below) and the square-foot spades (also pictured below). The resemblance is clear, with the pointed shoulders and the pointed feet. Pointed-Foot Spade (400-200 BC) H-3.63 Obverse: "Da Yin" Reverse: Blank Pointed hollow-handle spade: Square-foot spade:
Thanks for the education... I am learning more about Ancient Chinese issues, and find it very interesting collecting. I have the later square foot issues... China Zhou Dynasty 1122-255 BC AE Small Square Foot Spade An Yang 30x45mm 5-27g Ref: Hartill 3.182 S 13+
