Small character 元 Yuan (“first”) / Three vertical lines. 99mm long, 29.5 grams. Hartill 2.104. 

Very large and rare spade, rarely seen character Yuan. Clear character, very nice attractive example. With a repair on the neck (very difficult to see), but better than normal condition for the square shoulder spades. Certified, comes in the original large grading box.

Ex-Heritage auctions, with their original tag on the box.

Square-shoulder spades were an early form of Chinese money cast during the late Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods (c. 6th–3rd century BCE). They evolved from earlier tool-shaped bronze implements but were produced specifically as currency. These spade coins are characterized by their flat, stylized shape with squared shoulders, a short thickened handle (sometimes with a hollow socket), and an inscription on the blade that usually indicated the place of issue, such as a city or region. The inscriptions were typically written in early Chinese script and help identify issuing states like Zhao, Han, or Liang. Compared to earlier "pointed-shoulder" spades, the square-shoulder type appears later and is generally neater and more standardized, reflecting a gradual move toward uniform coinage. They played an important role in the diverse and regionalized monetary systems of pre-imperial China before Qin unification.