CNG 109, Lot: 802. Estimate $300. Sold for $850. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

CHINA, Eastern Zhou dynasty. Circa 650-400 BC. Æ Square Shoulder Spade (49x99mm, 33.92 g). Square shoulder spade with hollow handle; Fei in early zhuànshū Hànzì (seal script) characters in left field. BN Chinoises I; Yü-Ch'üan –; Shanghai I 93; Hartill 2.29. Good VF, green patina with earthen deposits, minor scratches.

From the Gasvoda 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.

From the consignor: Probably the most unusual piece in my collection. I was walking the floor of the 2011 ANA World’s Fair of Money in Chicago and came across four of these in a dealer’s case. I went back to the Chicago Coin Club table and asked Bob Leonard to come take a look at them with me. We picked out the best of the group, I bought it, and then got a nice lesson from Bob about when it was made and how it was used as currency.