Moneta Gallery Coin Museum



Users 21,942
Photos 3,363
Comments 351
Views 15,389,377
Disk Space 344.0mb

SunMon TueWed ThuFri Sat
     12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31      

Moneta 2434
Zantetsuken 293
Chinacash 170
stretrader99z 133
numismatist6 100

100_0107.JPG
H 6.17
crawforde

[ Archaic: Cowries, Spades & Knives ]
H1_1bone_1_2g_21x15m_TP.jpg
China - Bone Cowrie
Moneta

[ Archaic: Cowries, Spades & Knives ]
h1_2stonecowriejade_18_4G.jpg
China - Green Stone
Moneta

[ Archaic: Cowries, Spades & Knives ]
C_flat_jade.jpg
Flat Crystalized Bon
Moneta

[ Archaic: Cowries, Spades & Knives ]
zhouHollow.jpg
China - Zhou Square
Moneta

[ Archaic: Cowries, Spades & Knives ]
h1_2stonecowrieqi_5_7g_27_8x20_5m.jpg
China - Stone Cowrie
Moneta

[ Archaic: Cowries, Spades & Knives ]
· more ·

 

« Previous image · Next image »

Bronze Cowry (or Cowrie) of Ancient China
Bronze Cowry (or Cowrie) of Ancient China

Click on image to view larger image

« Previous image  · Slide Show · Next image »

Moneta



Registered: August 2005
Location: Arizona USA
Posts: 2,356
users gallery
Was this type of cowry the first true metal money? The ethno-centric Western culture likes to think of the electrum lumps (natural blend of gold and silver alloy) of Lydia in Asia-Minor (Turkey) as the first man-made metal money. The evidence shows that the Chinese used cast copper and bronze in the form of cowry shells long before. Even when the metal cowries are acknowledged as older then the argument goes that animal and people images that constitute 'coins' were first from Greek culture. However, is not the form of a sea shell the image of an animal? The Chinese went on to fashion 'ghost face' and 'ant nose' bronze castings that were definitely used as money.
This is a small cast bronze cowry. Be sure to look at the cast cowry tree. Other types of bronze cowries were made during the Wang Mang period when all types of ancient forms of money were resurrected during the nostalgic reforms of this unusual Chinese Emperor.
19 x 16 x 4 mm; 2.64 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 ]
· Date: September 8, 2007 · Views: 18,823 · Filesize: 51.8kb, 82.1kb · Dimensions: 768 x 500 ·
Keywords: China Chinese bronze cowries cowry

« more
C_flat_stone2.jpg
Bone_Cowry2.jpg
C_flat_jade.jpg
C_flat_stone.jpg
Stone_Jade.jpg
Stone_Cowry2.jpg
C_Stone_ang.jpg
C_flat_shell.jpg
C_Cowry_calc.jpg
BrzGold.jpg
BrzCowry.jpg
BrzTree.jpg
Cowry_Silver.jpg
Leadcowrie.jpg
GhostFace.jpg
clay_cowrie.jpg
CH_Cowrie_Clay.jpg
DSC01109.JPG
zhouHollow.jpg
ChouSpade.jpg
An_Yang_Spade.JPG
· more »

TP

Registered: June 2022
June 6, 2022 10:37pm

This is a "thick" metal version. It is more sturdy than the usual delicate bronze cowrie. The straight opening instead of the curved versions may suggests manufacturer


Photo Sharing Gallery by PhotoPost
Copyright © 2007 All Enthusiast, Inc.

No portion of this page, text, images or code, may be copied, reproduced, published or distributed in any medium without the expressed written permission of the copyright holder.