Gold Ancient Chinese coinage
gold coins marked ying yuan . ying being name of chu capital. the minted gold of period known chu gold block money (chinese: 郢爰; pinyin: yǐng yuán), consists of sheets of gold 3–5 mm thick, of various sizes, inscriptions consisting of square or round stamps in there 1 or 2 characters. have been unearthed in various locations south of yellow river indicating products of state of chu. 1 of characters in inscription monetary unit or weight read yuan (chinese: 爰; pinyin: yuán). pieces of variable size , thickness, , stamps appear device validate whole block, rather guide enable broken unit pieces. specimens have been reported in copper, lead, or clay. probable these funeral money, not circulating coinage, found in tombs, gold coins not.