Ancient China. Spring-Autumn to Warring States Period. Pointed Shoulder, Hollow Handle Spade ND (500-400 BC) CCC 2.182. No characters. 無字耸肩空首布。無補全體。品相難得。 Intact. Beautiful deep green patina with earthen deposits. One of the earliest types of spade money from ancient China after the prototype spades. Some also came with single characters probably referring to city of issue. Rare intact given the delicateness of the coin. The unique design of the spade makes it impracticle for pseudo applicable use and most likely for making them easier to tie and bundle together. Soon these were overtaken by smaller spades that completely discarded any semblance of practical use. These were excavated in modern Shanxi state. Their location attributes them to the Duchy of Jin 晉 which subsequently became part of the state of 趙。
