Cowrie, the earliest currency in China, made its first appearance in Xia Dynasty and became the main currency in Shang Dynasty. It was used as the medium for commodity transaction in the early Western Zhou Dynasty.

Copper coin first appeared in the late Spring and Autumn Period and was divided into four main forms in Warring States Period: 1. spade-shaped coin with different sizes of shoulder, foot and hip, popular in Wei, Zhao and Han States; 2. knife-shaped coin, popular in Qi, Yan and Zhao States. The coin of Qi State had the biggest size and a pointed head; while the coins of Yan State and Zhao State were relatively smaller and had square or round heads. 3. round coin, popular in Zhou, Qin States and the coastal regions of Wei and Zhao Statse, round in shape with round hole(later changed into square hole) and no outline. 4. Copper cowrie, popular in Chu State. In addition to copper cowrie, the other copper coins were all developed from agricultural and working tools.

As the flourishing development of commodity economy, gold began to be the universal equivalent in Warring States period and was used in commodity circulation. Its measuring units were Jin and Yi (1Yi equals 20 Liang or 24 Liang). Because gold was abundant in Chu State, it was most frequently used in this state. The gold content was generally more than 90% and they were cut into small pieces and paid by weight.

Silver first acted as current money in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. At first, silver was made in the shape of ingot and flat cake. Because the percentages of silver ingot were various in different areas and it was difficult to calculate, the silver was generally used in block trade.