Ancient Chinese Boshan Knife - Just bought my rarest coin!

This is a brand new purchase for me, and an exciting one at that. With this purchase, my type collection of knife coins is complete. This type of knife has not been seen at auction since 2008 (definitely, but there might have been an appearance in 2011), so I snatched it up while I had the chance. The price was very fair, so I have no regrets.

It is called a Boshan knife because this type of knife coin was discovered in the early 1800's in the city of Boshan. They are characterized by having a large, angular "Ming" character on the obverse, and multiple characters on the reverse.

Boshan knives are intriguing in that they are a fusion of two other types of knives: the Qi knives cast by the state of Qi and the Ming knives cast by the state of Yan. The obverse and the overall shape of the Boshan knives resemble that of the Ming knives with the single obverse character "Ming." The reverse resembles the obverses of the Qi knives. This mixture of types makes for an easy attripution to 284-279 BC. The city of Boshan is in an area that was under Qi control during the Warring States Period. However, the state of Yan was in control of this area during that narrow time window, so these coins were probably made then.



Here are the rest of my knife coins:

 

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Must have been dangerous being an ancient Chinese businessman. Some of those have tips that look very intimidating. I could see them as improvised weapons in a business deal gone wrong. They might be small, but an attack to the eyes or neck would have been downright terrifying

 

That is great! I only have a single, very common AE Currency Knife.

HOWEVER, I had to go look up Boshan... I have been there! Used to source Wood out of the Shandong Province, and had factory there. Used to fly in to Jinan to go there. Small world.

FANTASTIC that you finished this series for your self! Great feeling... or now you have this gaping hole of a need to collect more items in other areas of Chinese History?

 

China
Ming Knife money
400-220 BCE bronze
Hartill 4-42-3

 

Congratulations on achieving your goal!

 

A very impressive collection, Type! Congrats on nabbing the last one!

 

that's a cool collection typecoin!

 

Congrats on completing such an interesting numismatic journey.

 

it's a good day when you can use your money as a self defense weapon!
Very cool!!

 

These are neither sharp nor sturdy enough to be effectivly used as weapons or tools, which is differentiates them as specifically coins. On actual knives, the top edge has a reinforcing edge, the bottom edge was sharpened, and the handle was thicker than the blade. Those attributes are not present on these coins, except the second from the top in the last picture. That one only has the reinforcing edge, and as such I believe it is the earliest type.

Here are a couple Zhou actual knives I almost bought a while ago so you can what I am talking about.

 

Very cool! Yup, just a small world.

 

Excellent catch.. it is indeed an exquisite rare piece

 

Probably a dumb question but why do they call them coin knives?

 

The knife was not sharpened, but rather represented as a store of wealth with bronze as the metal of value. These were cast approx 400 BCE where implements such as knives represented needed items. In ancient Italia and Rome, they traded Aes Signatum, Aes Formatum, Aes Rude, which were all cast bronze styles. All were stores of wealth used as currency in transactions. Bronze could be melted into everyday useful implements if needed. Why do we trade modern coins when they have NO valuable metals in them?

 

Very cool thanks for the break down. I will do some research and find out more about them.

 

It arrived today. I opened the package, and the knife came out in two pieces. I have contacted the seller as I couldn't think of anything better to do. I bought it as repaired (and I see faint signs of a previous repair), so the dealer offered to repair it free of charge. It won't affect the value at all.

On an observational note, the rims are high and shaped just like those on the Qi knives. It is also a lot smaller than I had expected, about 1/2 the size of a normal knife. Perhaps a value 1/2 knife? It weighs 4.4g while a normal Ming knife weighed 14.7g.

There seems to be a single round character on the reverse, so my attribution is H-4.46.

I have no idea how to classify this. Possibly a burial piece (the Ancient Chinese were known to put smaller-size / devalued coinage in the graves), but the casting quality seems too good for this. It is probably not a local variety as the Boshan knives were a local type. Maybe @Loong Siew can help.



The whole corral:

 

Sorry it broke type. Good luck getting no it fixed

 

oh man...that stinks. so how will it be reapaired? ant that will not effect the value of the item?

 

It will be glued and painted over. It has already been broken in the handle, and that was expertly repaired. Since it was already broken, I can't see the value taking too much of a greater hit.

 

All little superglue and some paint and that puppy will be back in business. Still, I'm sorry you have to go through that hassle.