Sea shells as Cash

China, Shang dynasty (1530-1100 BC), cowrie shell Cypraea Annulus, value 3 shu .
The cowrie shell has been regarded as an origin of the divine in China from the earliest time. To protect against evil, one carried it as an amulet and put it into the grave of deceased. When queen Fu Hao, wife of powerful king Wu Ting, died around 1300 BC, 6880 kauri mussels were put into her gave. In addition, over 200 valuable bronze vessels, 6000 small sculptures made of jade and 16 people, probably from her own staff, were found.
Over time, the function of the cowrie sea shell expanded - after 1530 BC, documents show that Kauri sea shells are used as a reward, too. The cowrie shown here dates approximately from this time. No money form lasts longer in the Chinese empire: cowrie are known and used since the Zhang dynasty (1500-1045 BC; the Zhang dynasty founded the first period of a uniform culture and sovereign territory in China, writing art and bronze processing flourished) up to their demonetization in 1578 AC. Regionally, they are used even until the 20th century.

Ancient Chinese Silver Ingots

Silver in ancient China was very rare and precious due to the lack of rich domestic mines at that time. Silver deposits usually were found in the same ore bodies as minerals such as quartz, lead, and antimony, and the technology for refining and purifying silver was not mastered until the Tang Dynasty, a much later date than that for copper.

Silver ingots were a major form of currency in Chinese history for a period of more than a thousand years. Silver was not the only precious metal used in ancient China (as a matter of fact, it was relatively more valuable then than now) but was also taken as an exchange media, e.g., Money. People used cash coins for smaller transactions and ingots for bigger ones. Therefore, ingots were considered the money of the rich and some of the poor never saw an ingot in their lifetime.