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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Parthicus, post: 26749279, member: 81887&quot;][ATTACH=full]1708007[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>China, State of Zhao.&nbsp; AE square foot spade (4.04 g, 42 mm tall).&nbsp; Obverse: Inscription in Chinese &quot;An Yang&quot;.&nbsp; Reverse: Lines.&nbsp; Hartill 3.183.&nbsp; This coin: Stephen Album Auction 54, lot 3753 (January 22-25, 2026).</p><p><br /></p><p>Prior to the development of the familiar square-holed, cast &quot;cash&quot;-style coins, there were many different types of cast metal money forms in use in China.&nbsp; While there were many shapes including imitation cowries, &quot;ant nose&quot; money, bridge money, fish money, and more, the most common were knife-shaped and spade-shaped.&nbsp; These &quot;knives&quot; and &quot;spades&quot; were not useful as tools, and thus should be considered coins as they had no independent utility, instead having only symbolic value.&nbsp; The use of these various forms died out near the end of the Warring States period as cash coins took over, though Wang Mang (7- 22 CE) briefly revived both spade and knife coinage during the many monetary reforms of his tumultuous reign. </p><p><br /></p><p>The Warring States period (c. 475- 221 BCE) was exactly what the name suggests, a period when China was divided into multiple kingdoms that were frequently at war with each other.&nbsp; The history of this period is complicated, and a full summary would take too long, so I&#039;ll only summarize the general features.&nbsp; The various states regularly fielded huge armies, with the main fighting formation consisting of massed infantry.&nbsp; Spears, pikes, and crossbows were the most common weapons of the infantrymen, and swords were also used.&nbsp; Cavalry units were also utilized, initially recruited from Central Asian nomadic groups and later replaced by native Chinese units. There were multiple competing philosophical schools, including Confucianism, Taoism, and others.&nbsp; The use of iron became more common, and large-scale irrigation works and canals were built.&nbsp; Eventually, the State of Qin conquered all the remaining states, and in 221 BCE the Qin king called himself Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi, founding the Qin Dynasty and ruling as the first emperor of a united China.</p><p><br /></p><p>The State of Zhao was located in north-central China, roughly in what is now southern Hebei and northern Shanxi provinces.&nbsp; Hartill notes, &quot;In the Warring States period, there was an East An Yang in Hebei, and a West An Yang near Baotou in Inner Mongolia.&nbsp; Both passed to Zhao around 300 BC. Moulds for An Yang coins like 3.181-3 have been found at the Baotou site.&quot;&nbsp; This is an interesting relic from a very storied and important period in Chinese history.&nbsp; Please post your spade coins, or whatever else is related.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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