I was finally able to pull the trigger on this one (It helps when the seller offers a lot that will pay for itself and half of this coin ). Often, the heads/handles of these knives were broken off in contemporary times and used as charms, so they are just as collectable as intact knives, though not as expensive. I doubt that was the intent behind this one because the remnants of the blade are not filed off. I think it just broke at some point before it was excavated. So now I have a handle and a blade. Until I save up $400-700 for an intact specimen, this may be as close as I can get to a Wang Mang knife.
Nice example. I dont collect Chinese any more, but I do have an example. I think I've shown it before:
