Ghost's Face Money Publique Deposited
A name given to certain small copper pellet-like shaped money of China, convex on one side and flat on the other. They are generally conceded to have been in use about B.C. 650-600, and the designation "Ant's Nose Money" is due, perhaps, to the ancient practice of burying "valuable ants" with the dead. "Ghost's Face or Head Money" is also an appellation given to them, no doubt on account of their likeness to the features of a spectre of the nether world. Their latest cognomen is that of "Metallic Cowries" in imitation of cowry shells, whose shape they are supposed to follow and which were known to be used as a currency medium in ancient China.
The most common variety is that supposed to be inscribed with the weight value Pan Liang, or half Tael. For a detailed account see Ramsden, Numismatic and Pilatelic Journal of Japan, 1914 (iii, 4, 5), and Spink, Numismatic Circular (xxiii, p. 564).
- Frey's Dictionary (American Journal of Numismatics, Vol. 50, 1916)