Can anyone identify these Chinese items? Coins or tokens?

ajaan

Something I've never seen before.

lordmarcovan

Beans.

Glad I could help.

No, but as I told you when you asked me whether you should post them or not, I think they are cool looking, whatever they are.

Paging sumnom... come in, sumnom...

SaorAlba

They are known as "Ant Nose" money. They were a real proto-money in ca. 200 BC China, during the period of the so called "Warring States". Unfortunately as with many things that come out of China these days, they are very commonly faked. Nothing like 2200 years of aging in a matter of weeks in the right conditions.

sumnom

If real, these are indeed ancient. I am away from my references at the moment but I'll see what I can find out about them this evening if someone else doesn't get to it befor ehand.

ajaan

Thanks, now the question is how can I determine if they are authentic. Any help you can provide sumnom is greatly appreciated.

ColinCMR

they appear genuine to me, but im not sure about the drilled hole?

the top right one looks really nice

Blackhawk

I'd bet that they'd make dandy slip sinkers for walleye fishing.

ajaan

Bill,

Aethelred

These were used to make ancient coffee.

sumnom

I'm sorry to take so long to get back to this thread. I am in way over my head with these but I did a little reading and found out the following:

These are indeed coins cast in copper and meant to be in the shape of cowrie shells, which had been used as currency since the Xia dynasty (2205-1766BC). Now the Xia is a dynasty we know only from references from sources produced in other dynasties. We have no direct evidence of it as yet but we may still find some. At any rate, these "ghost head" or "ant nose" coins, terms not used during the historical period of their circulation, were minted in the state of Chu (481BC-221BC) during the Warring States Period. They come in two general varieties: those with inscriptions and those without. The inscription varieties are far more common. The reference I use (Ding Fubao) shows that holes are supposed to be there so we don't have to worry about them having been drilled.

That's about all I could figure out. I do have other references I can look in but that will require a bit more reading in Chinese than my tired brain can handle at the moment. I hope you find it helpful. Unfortunately, I can tell you nothing about authenticity or market value.

ajaan

Thank you so much sumnom and everyone else. Very enlightening.

sumnom

My pleasure!