楚国爰金战国时代郢爰。重28.15克。刻有铭文"郢爰"。製于今湖北省。製作时，先作有铭文的金钣（金版），再根据需要将其切成零星小块。据推测，此为从一块较大金钣分割出来的合二为一的小金块。此为中国货币史上首款形制确定的金质货币。单一小方块罕见，两枚以上方块合一的情况则是非常罕见。方块包边有两处深打完整铸印，几乎完全被积土包裹。非常出色的一枚，定为集藏增添光彩。blockquote style="margin:0px;"/blockquote。CHINA. State of Chu. "Yuan Jin" Gold Cube Money, ND (ca. 475-221 B.C.). Warring States Period. VERY FINE。History of Chinese Currency-pg. 7, #1; Hartill-5.1. 28.15 gms. Inscribed "Ying Yuan". Made in what is now Hubei province, it was cut from larger bars which allowed for the making of small denominations, in this case, two complete "cubes" were presumably separated from a larger set. Hartill conjectures that these stamped shapes were not meant to be specific weight units, but rather to validate the larger gold block. Historically this is Chinas first gold currency with a fixed shape and size. Examples of single cubes are scarce while multiple conjoined cubes of two or more should be considered VERY RARE. Two bold and complete incuse stamps enclosed in square border almost entirely encrusted with earthen deposits. A handsome example with lots of character sure to add depth to the next collection it enters。
