Abstract
Chinese coins from western North American archaeological sites are a dramatic example of artifacts whose primary function changed completely when they changed cultural context. This article provides a review of the known uses of the wen, the most commonly recovered Chinese coin, and presents ethnographic evidence to suggest uses previously unrecognized in the archaeological literature. It is suggested that Chinese wen could not have circulated as currency after crossing the Pacific because they had use-values far exceeding their monetary exchange values.
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Akin, M.K. The noncurrency functions of Chinese wen in America. Hist Arch 26, 58–65 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03373533
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03373533