XIN: Wang Mang, 7-23 AD, AE gold key money (35.12g), H-9.12, yi dao ping wu qian (one knife worth five thousand) with the words yi dao written in gold inlay, minor encrustation, graded 85 by GBCA Grading Company, a lovely example of this rare and popular type! XF, ex Zhao Quanzhi Collection. At that time 5000 Wu Shu was equal to 1/2 cattie of gold. A cattie weighed about 120 grams, so these knives were valued at about 60 grams (2 ounces) of pure gold. We have not been able to find a relative value for gold in ancient China, but in the same time frame in the Roman Empire, two ounces of gold would have been at least a years wages to an average citizen, thus the problem with this issue. It was fiat currency with a named value very high, but with little intrinsic value.
