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Message:: [QUOTE="Loong Siew, post: 2962619, member: 75799"]Ancient China. Warring states period. Qi Ming (Boshan) Knife.  State of Yan 燕 under Qi 齐 control. 4 character inscription "莒治大匕"。Hartill 4.51. One of the top 50 Chinese ancient rarities 古钱五十珍， these were first unearthed during the reign of the Qing Emperor Jiaqing around the 18th century around Boshan in Shandong province thus the name. The inscriptions were subjected to debate as they were not really fully deciphered or understood. In addition the inscriptions are varied with some 3 to 4 characters. The source of these coins were subjected to speculation as they appeared to be closely resemble the more common Ming knives but with a distinct Ming character design. Numismatists commonly came to the consensus that these were probably minted during a very brief period where the area was under Qi state administration before it was reclaimed under the Yan state. It's brief period, quantity and area of issuance made it one of the rarest coins (knife or otherwise) in ancient China thus giving it the honor of being the 3rd of the 50 rarities in Chinese numismatics. This Boshan variant falls into the 4 character style. Although speculative, the inscription seems to mean "Issued by the city of Ju 莒"。 [ATTACH=full]725353[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]