CNG 96, Lot: 1072. Estimate $200. Sold for $3500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

CHINA, Eastern Zhou dynasty. 7th-6th centuries BC. Æ Square Shoulder Spade (99x54mm, 37.64 g). Square shoulder spade with hollow handle; Xing? in early zhuànshū Hànzì (seal script) characters in left field. BN Chinoises I –; Yü-Ch'üan –; Shanghai I –; Hartill 2.94. Good VF, green patina with a light dusting of brown earthen deposits.

From the J.P. Righetti Collection.

Among the earliest of Chinese coins. Issued during the Spring and Autumn period, as Zhou royal authority was declining and the once-subservient fiefdoms and duchies waxed strong.