Ghost Face of Ancient China

January 2025

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These are classified under the imitation cowrie issues of ancient China. Further they are termed 'ant nose' (or 'ant and nose') money and this type, with distinctive character features that resemble a ghostly face, are called such. By this point in the development of money in China they are considered true money. An urban legend sprang up about these. It was believed that they were included in human burials to ward of ants (even inserted in the nose), but this has since been debunked. It is still uncertain what the characters mean in ancient Chinese; Jin and Bei have been proposed, the latter meaning 'shell', so that seems plausible. This is a typical example of Hartill #1.4; S 15-17; FD4; however, like many found this one has a depression rather than a hole. Hartill has the most current list of variations and he describes 13 different types. Some alloys have a high degree of lead.
17.5 x 12 x 4 mm; 3.26 gm

Moneta Library has articles on Cowries to VIEW and DOWNLOAD:
The Worlds's First Money, Chinese Cowries and Their Imitations - by Ted Puls: [ link ]
Cowries - Bob Reis: [ link ]
Origin of Cowries in Ancient China - UofPa: [ link ]
Metallic Cowries - Royal Asiatic Society: [ link ]
Nice Video on Cowrie history: [ link ]
An excellent article in ANA's "Numismatist" magazine, Oct 2017 > [ link ]
SEE how far back in time decorative sea shells were important to prehistoric man at his : [ link ]
Interested in Primitive Money? Then check out this YouTube video created by Kagins Auctions featuring Bob Leonard and Charles Opitz upon the massive sale in March 2021. Click this: [ link ]