08 · Exchange and migration · objects that crossed the Yalu

A coin with the memory of a blade

Yan knife-coins in the north

These bronze pieces in knife form were Yan coins, not weapons for cutting.

Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.

Specific historical recreation of the Yan knife-coins in the north, Northern Korean peninsula and Daedong River region, 323–222 BCE — **DECLARED VISUAL RECONSTRUCTION · EXISTING EDITORIAL RESOURCE · TRACEKEEPERS**
Generated reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis
Declared visual reconstruction for museographic context; it is not a photograph of the original nor documentary evidence.

History and context

Knife-shaped coins, produced in Yan during the Warring States, have appeared north of the Daedong River and in areas linked to Gojoseon. They did not cut as weapons: their silhouette turned marked metal into recognisable value.

Their presence may reflect trade, payments and movement of people during the crises of northern China. It does not demonstrate automatic annexion nor a total monetary economy; grain, textiles and reciprocity remained essential.

The pieces called myeongdojeon retain a cast inscription that names the type; their silhouette recalls a knife, but the object had no functional edge. The standardised metal made visible a relation with Yan workshops and circuits.

Finds north of the Daedong may reflect trade, tribute, wages or refugee displacement during the 3rd century BCE wars. None of these possibilities alone transforms the territory into a Yan province.

Evidence and interpretation

Documented fact: The National Museum of Korea attributes specimens found in the northern peninsula to Yan, 323–222 BCE, and relates them to the introduction of material culture and iron. Interpretation and caution: route, user and function of each find are not identical. Expanded documented fact: The National Museum of Korea identifies Yan knife-coins in contexts related to Gojoseon and dates them to the Warring States. Expanded interpretation and caution: Do not present the coins as weapons nor use their distribution as an exact political frontier or proof of universal everyday currency.

Catalogue facts

Narrative date: 323–222 BCE
Location: Northern Korean peninsula and Daedong River region
Material: Cast bronze with monetary inscription
Context: Contact with Yan during the Warring States
Curatorial reading: The documented fact and its interpretation appear separately in the evidence block.
Korean name: Myeongdojeon designates a type of knife-coin associated with the state of Yan.
Function: The blade was not sharpened; the form operated as a support for value and inscription.
Context: Its arrival coincides with wars and population movements in northern China.
Documentary coverage: 2 museum, heritage, primary corpus or research sources for this stop.
Intercultural biography: State of Yan · Warring States: production · Gojoseon scope: findspot

A SHARED TOPIC, DIFFERENT MOMENTS

Objects connected through time

Follow a topic across the collections. A shared tag is a way to compare objects, not proof that one culture influenced another.

The order uses the midpoint of each approximate date range; ranges can overlap. Spacing does not represent elapsed time. Swipe, scroll or use the arrows. With the sequence focused, use ← / →, Home or End.

You are viewing

323–222 BCE

A coin with the memory of a blade

Gojoseon and early Korea

The knife form does not imply that the coin is a weapon.

Current record

Bronze23 dated objects

14 / 23In the centre: A coin with the memory of a blade

Also connected, without a comparable date (6)

These objects are not placed after the others: an unknown date does not mean a more recent object.

Daegok-ri grave goodsGojoseon and early Korea · from c. 5th century BCE
Early metallurgyAncient China · c. 1900–1500 BCE
Four offerersIberians · Iberian period · individual dating according to catalogue
Iron changes the frontierGojoseon and early Korea · 3rd–2nd centuries BCE
The workshop inside the ditchYayoi Japan · 4th century BCE–3rd century CE, peak in Middle and Late Yayoi
Weapons under the LakeCeltic worlds · Mainly 3rd–1st centuries BCE

You can scroll the first group without JavaScript. The other topics are also available below.

Coins

The archer in gold · Type introduced from the late 6th century; specimen from the 4th century BCE. · Achaemenid Persia
Yan knife-money in the Gojoseon sphere · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Ancient China
Treasure of Cheste · Jewellery from the 4th–3rd centuries BCE; concealment at the end of the 3rd century BCE. · Iberians
A coin with the memory of a blade · 323–222 BCE · Gojoseon and early Korea — You are viewing
Denarius of Carisius · ≈25–23 BCE · Iberians
Kilwa coin · 1482–1493 · Bantu-speaking worlds

Inscriptions

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Cyrus speaks as king of Babylon · After the conquest of Babylon in 539 BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Oracle bones · from ca. 1200 BCE · Ancient China
Writing with gaps · Diverse chronologies · Garamantes

Exchange and trade

Weights · ca. 2600–1900 BCE · Indus civilisation
Before the Hittites · c. 19th century BCE · Hittites
Kerma vessel · c. 1802–1640 BCE · Nubia, Kerma and Kush
Ivory in Nimrud · 9th–8th centuries BCE · Phoenicians
Motagua jade · c. 900–600 BCE · Maya worlds
The so-called ‘Priest of Cádiz’ · 7th century BCE · Phoenicians
The so-called ‘Priest of Cádiz’ · 7th century BCE · Iberians
The Gallery of the Conch Shells · Main use c. 800–500 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Mazarrón 1 · Second half of the 7th century BCE · Phoenicians
Mazarrón 2 · Second half of the 7th century BCE · Phoenicians
Ivory with names · End of the 7th century–first half of the 6th century BCE · Phoenicians
The inscription of Pistiros · 4th century BCE · Thracians
Yan knife-money in the Gojoseon sphere · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Ancient China
Lead tablet · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Iberians
A coin with the memory of a blade · 323–222 BCE · Gojoseon and early Korea — You are viewing
Ceramics that continued · Last third of the 2nd century BCE–1st century CE · Iberians
Roman glass oinochoe · Late 1st century BCE–early 1st century CE · Etruscans and Rome
Moulds for gold · 9th–11th centuries CE · Mande Worlds
Missing grave goods · 13th–15th centuries according to the heritage overview · Bantu-speaking worlds
Catalan Atlas · after 1375 and before November 1380 · Mande Worlds
Kilwa coin · 1482–1493 · Bantu-speaking worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

A Kerma vessel deposited at Abydos · Second Intermediate Period · Ancient Egypt
Akrotiri · c. 1700–1500 BCE · Greek worlds
Clicks and contact · precolonial contacts with varying chronologies and subsequent continuity · Bantu-speaking worlds
Dia’s strata · 9th century BCE–2nd millennium CE · Mande Worlds
Indian Ocean Kiswahili · from the first millennium CE; major development in medieval and modern times · Bantu-speaking worlds
Jenne-jeno contexts · ca. 250 BCE–1400 CE · Mande Worlds
Kumbi Saleh · medieval occupation; prominent phases between the 11th and 13th centuries · Mande Worlds
Lothal · ca. 2400–1600 BCE · Indus civilisation
Meluhha · ca. 2600–1900 BCE · Indus civilisation
Nile towards Nubia · ca. 3300–2800 BCE · Ancient Egypt
The Banquet of Seuthes II · Towards 400 BCE. Anabasis episode · Thracians
Travelling objects · Mainly Roman period · Garamantes

A closer look

About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: September 5, 2026.

The memory of a tool in a coin

The British Museum’s Money Gallery large-print guide highlights that knife-coins retained details of real instruments, such as the ring at the end and the reinforcing ribs of the handle. They were not exclusive to Yan: other northern and northeastern states, including Zhao and Qi, also issued them. At the same time, round coins circulated whose inscriptions expressed weight or value. This diversity helps situate the peninsula northern pieces within a changing monetary landscape, prior to imperial standardisation. Recognising a shared form is not enough to attribute all coins to the same issuer.

Museum · British Museum · Money Gallery, large-print guideAccess recorded: September 5, 2026.

Location and territory

DEBATED LOCATION

Northern Korean peninsula and Daedong River regionLiaoning and northern Korea; the precise extent remains debated. The mark indicates the orienting centre of the scope, not a boundary or an exact point.

Where it is held

National Museum of Korea

Item or group in the record · Documented collection

The holding institution is documented; public display may change. Check its official record before visiting.

Cultural connections

State of Yan · Warring States →

The coin belongs to a phase much later than Shang and must be dated as such.

Documented

National Museum of Korea · knife money

Sources and references

Expand this information and consult its sources

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A coin with the memory of a blade

History and context

Evidence and interpretation

Catalogue facts

Objects connected through time

A coin with the memory of a blade

Jue

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Fu Hao’s burial goods

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Kushite king

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Scorțaru cauldron

Vix Tomb

Yan knife-money in the Gojoseon sphere

A coin with the memory of a blade

The blade became straight

Geometry in very fine lines

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Torreáguila fountain spout

A closer look

The memory of a tool in a coin

Location and territory

Where it is held

National Museum of Korea

Cultural connections

State of Yan · Warring States →

Sources and references

Did you enjoy this exhibit?