Why did ancient people make coins out of shells?

Because cattle, sheep, pigs and other livestock were inseparable at that time, the whole grain would rot, pearls and jade were too few, and knives and shovels were heavy, so we finally concentrated on seashells, a physical currency.

Seashells can be used as neck ornaments, which are valuable and easy to carry and count, so they have been selected as the main currency in the long-term commodity exchange. In the archaeological excavation, a large number of natural shellfish were unearthed from the sites of Xia and Shang Dynasties, and shellfish were used as physical currency until the Spring and Autumn Period.

Shells live in the mantle of mollusks near water, and have a special kind of gland cells, whose secretions can form calcifications to protect the soft parts of the body, so they are called shells.

Extended data:

Tooth shells and coins were extremely valuable in ancient China, equivalent to precious metals and hard currency today. They can be exchanged for a large number of other goods, and they are ancient trading media. In ancient China, shells and coins were more important than gold. In ancient China, shells and coins were the standard, so there were no gold coins in ancient China.

Chu in the south is different. Its tooth shell is obviously insufficient, so it has an imitation tooth shell made of bones and gold coins-Ying _ (Chu Gold Coin). Tooth shells and coins act as universal equivalents in transactions and are a means of transfer payment. Tooth shells and coins circulate in the transaction, and one party buys and the other sells.

People shout "shell, shell" and "coin, coin" in transactions, and shell and coin evolve into buying and selling in transactions, that is, buying and selling. The business of modern Chinese is simplified characters, and the relationship with shellfish is no longer obvious. However, the sale of traditional Chinese characters (buying and selling) comes from shellfish, which shows that the sale of ancient China is closely related to shellfish.

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