China - Ming Knife Money - Museum Gallery

May 2026

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T. P. Collection. This is an example of Ming Knife money (Type 4). Waiting clarification on Hartill #4.x
These knives take their name from the obverse character "Ming" which looks much like a human eye. There are many different reverse characters documented in David Hartill's "Cast Chinese Coins." This knife is 13.5 cm x 15 mm. A mint for these knives has been found in Xiadu, to the southwest of Peking. They've been found across a number of Chinese provinces, Korea and even Japan.
Some of the earliest money was made in China, where coins were cast in the shape of tools such as spades and knives. Utilitarianly worthless, these token objects recollected real implements with actual utility value, items that had traditionally been bartered for livestock and land. The change to a make-believe version in the 7th century BCE increased commerce by easing exchange “ i.e., friction was reduced by lightning the load“ but these coins reminded people at every trade that money was merely symbolic. Knife and spade money arguably countered the abstraction of wealth and the concomitant distortion of values. [NNP, Newman Numismatic Portal article]