Watch List notes:

WARRING STATES: Anonymous, 350-250 BC, AE spade (30.53g), State of Chu, H-3.470, pei bi dang jin (equivalent to one Jin) on obverse, shi hao (ten hao) on reverse in archaic script, Fine to VF, RRR, ex Nicholas Rhodes Collection. The State of Chu was an ancient Chinese state in the Yangtze valley during the Zhou Dynasty. Originally Chu was considered a viscounty but, starting from King Wu in the early 8th century BC, the rulers of Chu declared themselves kings on an equal footing with the Zhou rulers. Originally known as Jing and then as Jingchu, Chu occupied vast areas of land at its height, including most of the present-day provinces of Hubei and Hunan, along with parts of Chongqing, Guizhou, Henan, Anhui, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai. The hao in the reverse inscription shi hao probably refers to ten ant nose type coins. These spades are thick and robust with well developed rims all the way around, with a large round hole in the top.A similar but lower quality example sold in Stack's Bowers & Ponterio Sale 184 Lot number 30579 for $850. This is the finest example we have handled of this rare type.

Estimate: 900- 1,100 USD