China - Ancient. ZHOU: Anonymous, 1122-255 BC, AE lotus root money (23.33g), 32×7.5×5.5mm, so-called "lotus root heart money"; rectangular, but with only three walls, various slots & grooves, VF, ex Charles Opitz Collection. The idea that enigmatic bronze objects were early forms of Chinese "money" was popularized in Europe by a monograph written by H. A. Ramsden in 1912. The alternative explanation of the so-called "lotus root heart" money is that they were keys to locks.
