Spade money (traditional Chinese: 布幣; simplified Chinese: 布币; pinyin: bù bì) was an early form of coin and commodity money used during the Zhou dynasty of China (1045 to 256 BC). Spade money was shaped like a spade or weeding tool, but the thin blade and small sizes of spade money indicate that it had no utilitarian function.[1] The earlier versions of spade coins tended to have a fragile, hollow socket, reminiscent of a metal shovel.[1] Later versions of spade money had this socket transformed into a thin, flat piece, and over time, inscriptions were added to the spade coins to mark their denominations.[1] Several versions of spade money circulated across the Chinese Central Plains during the Zhou dynasty period until they were abolished by the Qin dynasty in 221 BC in favour of the Ban Liang cash coins.[1]
Under the Xin dynasty created by Wang Mang spade money was reintroduced; there were 12 different types of spade money in the Xin dynasty, ranging in values from 100 to 1000 qián.[2]
In 2021 a paper was published about an old mint that was discovered at an archeological site in Henan Province; through radiocarbon-dating the spade money found there was estimated to have been created between 640 BCE and no later than 550 BCE, making it possibly the world's oldest known mint.[3] meaning that it is possible that the earliest known coinage was invented by the Chinese and not the Lydians as is commonly believed.[3][4] Though the spade coins that were found at the Guanzhuang site are not as old as the metal coins that were discovered in the ancient city of Ephesus.[4]
^ abcdHao Zhao; Xiangping Gao; Yuchao Jiang; Yi Lin; Jin Zhu; Sicong Ding; Lijun Deng; Ji Zhang (August 6, 2021). "Radiocarbon-dating an early minting site: the emergence of standardised coinage in China". Antiquity. 95 (383). Antiquity, Cambridge University Press: 1161–1178. doi:10.15184/aqy.2021.94. S2CID 238220610. Archived from the original on December 31, 2021. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
^ abJILLIAN KRAMER (PHOTOGRAPHS BY HAO ZHAO) (August 5, 2021). "'World's oldest' coin factory discovered in China. - If confirmed, the 2,600-year-old mint could rewrite the history of money. Spade-shaped coins, unearthed at the site of an ancient bronze foundry in China's Henan Province, are the oldest known Chinese metal currency and possibly the first in the world". National Geographic. Archived from the original on September 24, 2021. Retrieved September 26, 2021. Archaeologists excavating the remains of Guanzhuang—an ancient city in China's eastern Henan Province—have discovered what they believe is the oldest-known coin mint, where miniature, shovel-shaped bronze coins were mass produced some 2,600 years ago. Their research, published today in the journal Antiquity, gives weight to the idea that the first coins were minted not in Turkey or Greece, as long thought, but in China,
^ abLivia Gershon (August 9, 2021). "Cool Finds - World's Oldest Known Coin Mint Found in China. - The 2,600-year-old site produced highly standardized "spade money," possibly on government orders". Smithsonian. Archived from the original on September 27, 2021. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
Spademoney (traditional Chinese: 布幣; simplified Chinese: 布币; pinyin: bù bì) was an early form of coin and commodity money used during the Zhou dynasty...
Andrew Spade (born May 5, 1962) is an American businessman. He co-founded the fashion brand Kate Spade New York with his wife, Kate Spade, as well as the...
Katherine Noel Valentine Brosnahan Spade (born Katherine Noel Brosnahan; December 24, 1962 – June 5, 2018) was an American fashion designer and entrepreneur...
the Yellow River. Although there is no doubt that the well-known spade and knife money were used as coins, it has not been demonstrated that other items...
modern coins. They included cowrie shells, ant nose money, spade-shaped money and knife-shaped money. Before the Spring and Autumn period, during the Shang...
money. Knife Money is much the same shape as the actual knives in use during the Zhou period. They appear to have evolved in parallel with the Spade money...
Kate Spade New York is an American luxury fashion house founded in January 1993 by Kate and Andy Spade. In 2017, the company was purchased by Tapestry...
in the 6th or 5th centuries BC. From about 1000 BC, money in the form of small knives and spades made of bronze was in use in China during the Zhou dynasty...
different types of currencies of the Zhou dynasty, including Knife money and Spademoney. During his brief reign, Wang Mang introduced a total of four major...
State of Qin, coins from the spademoney area have a round hole and refer to the jin and liang units. Those from the knife money area have a square hole and...
after a tax reform that allowed for the partial acceptance of taxes in money, which had increased the demand for currency which scared the government...
(Chinese: 块; pinyin: kuài; lit. 'piece') is usually used when discussing money and "renminbi" or "yuan" are rarely heard. Similarly, Mandarin speakers...
government of the Qing dynasty was forced to re-introduce paper money, among the paper money it produced were the Hubu Guanpiao (戶部官票) silver notes that were...
imitations of gold- or silver-colored paper are burned along with hell money as a part of Chinese ancestral veneration for Tomb Sweeping Day and the...
of coins were used in China, usually in the form of blades (knife money, spademoney) or other implements, though round coins with square holes were used...
The Adventures of Sam Spade, Detective was a radio series based loosely on the private detective character Sam Spade, created by writer Dashiell Hammett...
by Dennie Gordon (in her feature film directorial debut), starring David Spade, Dennis Miller, Christopher Walken, Adam Beach, Brian Thompson, Brittany...
spade (bu). The Qi (齊) used money in the shape of a knife (dao). The Zhao (趙) and the Yan (燕) used knife money before switching over to spademoney roughly...
Birdman, who signed them to Cash Money Records/Universal Records. In the progress of working on their next project, member Spade-O was jailed in 2002/2003 for...