Cowrie Bone imitation

Cowrie (Bone imitation) - obverseCowrie (Bone imitation) - reverse

© uribo

Features

Location China (ancient)
Period Pre-Qin dynasty (1046 BC - 221 BC)
Type Proto-coin › Proto-coin
Years 1046 BC - 221 BC
Value Cowrie
Currency Cowrie imitation money (1046-771 BC)
Composition (Bone)
Weight 1.89 g
Size 20 mm
Thickness 4.0 mm
Shape Other (Cowrie)
Orientation Medal alignment ↑↑
Demonetized Yes
Number
N#
123641
References Hartill# 1.2
David Hartill; 2017. Cast Chinese Coins (2nd edition). New Generation Publishing, London, United Kingdom.

Obverse

One straight line dividing the shell with carved grooves for the teeth.

Reverse

Blank (uniface).

Edge

Smooth.

Comments

Shell money is among the oldest form of currency and has been used by several civilizations for trade purpose. As the name suggests, it was originally made with shell; specifically shells of Cypraea moneta, also commonly called Cowrie, a small sea snail which gave its common name to this form of money.

Due to shell shortage, later imitations were made with bone, bronze or jade. There is still some debate regarding the use of these imitations as burial artefacts rather than trade purpose.

Despite the impossibility to precisely assign dates to the bone imitations, generally accepted dates range from the early Zhou dynasty to the 7th century BC.

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Date VG F VF XF AU UNC Frequency
ND (1046 BC - 221 BC)  7% No holes
ND (1046 BC - 221 BC)  0% One hole
ND (1046 BC - 221 BC)  97% Two holes

Frequencies show the percentage of Numista users who own each year or variety among all the users who own this item. Since some users own several versions, the sum may be greater than 100%.

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Numista Rarity index: 77 Search tips
This index is based on the data of Numista members collections. It ranges from 0 to 100, 0 meaning a very common coin or banknote and 100 meaning a rare coin or banknote among Numista members.

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