Knife money

Knife money
Yan State knife money
Traditional Chinese	刀幣
Simplified Chinese	刀币
Literal meaning	Knife coin
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin dāobì
Alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	刀錢
Simplified Chinese	刀钱
Literal meaning	Knife money
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin dāoqián
Second alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	金錯刀
Simplified Chinese	金错刀
Literal meaning	Gold-plated knife
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin jīn cuò dāo

Knife money is the name of large, cast, bronze, knife-shaped commodity money produced by various governments and kingdoms in what is now China, approximately 2500 years ago. Knife money circulated in China between 600 and 200 B.C. during the Zhou dynasty.^{[1][page needed][2]}