The knife coins were cast in the last 500 years BC in several places in China, the so-called "Warring States" era, when the Zhou emperor was powerless and the regional governments were constantly squabbling over dominance issues. Hundreds of knife types are known, divided into several general types. Knife money is the name of large, cast, bronze, knife-shaped coins produced by various governments and kingdoms in what is now known as China, approximately 2500 years ago. They had holes on the end to be easily strapped onto belts or rings. Known as jin cuo dao (金错刀
in Chinese, knife money circulated in China between 600 to 200 B.C. during the Zhou dynasty.There are several stories that attempt to explain how knife money was introduced but it is not certain if any or all are true. In one story a prince who was running low on money to pay his troops allowed them to use their knives as a form of currency to barter with villagers and the medium became so popular that it became generally accepted. In another story, the same prince began accepting knives as payment for small fines in the place of the current legal ring currency. Knife money may also have been brought in by sea traders from the Indian Ocean. Throughout time the knife currency slowly shrank until only the ring of the handle was produced as a symbol of the knife that it represented CHINA, State of QI in Shandong, c. 400-220 BC, heavy knife, An Yang Zhi Fa Hua,
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CHINA, State of QI in Shandong, c. 400-220 BC, heavy knife, Qi Fa Hua, Shi Liu Bu, thick patina was thinned with a wire brush, but remains intact with only bits of bare metal, little gouge on the reverse character demonstrates that it is original.
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CHINA, State of YAN, NE China, c. 600-400 BC, pointed tip knife, Xin (8th celestial stem)
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