Large undeciphered character left / Three vertical lines. 99mm long, 29.5 grams. Hartill 2.117. 

Very large and rare spade, rarely seen character. The character has not been deciphered. Clear character, very nice attractive example. With minor repairs on the head (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.