Special 286 Ancient Coins Postage Stamps (Issue of 1990)

　　In very ancient China, people relied on the barter system to exchange things until Huang Ti (Yellow Emperor, B.C. 2698), a half mythical, half real hero, unanimously regarded as the first monarch of the first Chinese dynasty, established a sort of monetary system in which cowrie was used as money. Cowrie was only found on the seashores of the far Southern Seas. Later, as civilization developed and trade increased, there were not enough cowries for circulation. Then oyster shell was polished and used as money because of its hardness and endurance. Still later, bones, jades, pottery, and bronze were also made into the form of shell money, and circulated as shell money. The cowrie and shell money lasted for about 2,000 years and ended in the Ch-in Dynasty (221-207 B.C.).