An exhibition of Chinese coins currently housed at the Auberge de Provence in Valletta is composed of 300 genuine pieces, which span 4,000 years. Behind every single piece there is a story, says China Cultural Centre director Xiaowei Xiang, and the little coins – simple everyday objects – can be used to relate part of China’s history.

The walls of the beautiful salon of the Auberge de Provence in Valletta are currently housing a walkthrough exhibition of Chinese coins, spanning the history of China over a 4,000 year period.

The little coins – around 300 genuine pieces, some dating from around 2,000 BC until the Beijing 2008 Olympics – take viewers on a very long journey through the history of Chinese coinage.

“Behind every piece of the collection there is a story to tell,” says the Malta China Cultural Centre director Xiaowei Xiang.

The history of Chinese coins – everyday objects which were passed from hand to hand – can provide a glimpse of the history of China.

“When we talk about human civilisation and heritage, people tend to turn their eyes to archaeological findings, but they don’t really look at the money which had such an important role in advancing civilisation,” explains Mr Xiang. “So that’s one of the reasons why money was handpicked as a vehicle – so that through a very simple object we can figure out and feel and understand how civilisation moved forward. Money has a very high archaeological value.”

“Money not only reflects the history,” continues Mr Xiang, “but, most importantly, it provides a very direct understanding of the cultural code behind it – either by the year mark or by its shape – it really reflects the philosophical identification of a culture. In such a small space, we can figure out some very profound cultural and historical meanings. That’s another reason why we want to use this coin with a little hole in it as a mirror to look at China’s history and tradition,” he says.

The exhibition was produced and sponsored by the Culture Ministry of the People’s Republic of China. It was brought to Malta by the China Cultural Centre in Malta in collaboration with Heritage Malta.

Before coming to Malta, the collection was exhibited in Turkey; after Malta it is expected to travel to Croatia.

Another two identical collections are currently touring the world: in the Asian region and in the South American area.

The exhibition includes a number of interesting differences from European coinage. For instance, the first coins in China were seashells; there are also coins in the shape of spades and knives and coins used as lucky charms.

“The shell was used as the first primitive money form. Civilisation in China originated in the Upper Ridge of the Yellow River, it’s about 2,000 miles from the sea which is very far, making the shells very rare.”

During the Shang and Zhou Dynasties (c. 1,600-256 BC), when there was a great shortage of natural shells, people started making stone imitations and gilding them, explains Mr Xiang. “Anything precious in the Chinese language is written as a shell,” he adds.

Another strange coin comes in the shape of a farming spade (bu). Another curious coin is in the shape of a knife. “China was cast into chaos and wars so weapons became very important, they kept people alive, so they began to cast the money in iron form,” explains Mr Xiang.

Eventually, the familiar circular shape of coins developed from a jade bi disk, which was used for ceremonial purposes. Bi is a kind of religious ceremonial item because it is circular, suggesting perfection. So later the shape of the coins was generated from it. Because they were still quite bulky, they used to have holes in the middle, for the convenience of carrying them – they could be tied up with a rope – and they also saved on a little bit of metal and reduced the weight.”

Eventually, during the mighty empire of the Qin dynasty, Chinese currency was united for the first time, says Mr Xiang. This saw the creation of a round coin with a square hole in the middle, called the banliang (half-tael). “An interesting change emerged in the shape. The outside was still round, but there was a square hole inside. At the time people believed that the sky was a circular dome, but the earth was square.”

The exhibition also details the first precautions against forgery – the creation of a kind of rim around the coin – as well as the emergence of the first yearmark.

The emergence of the first paper money is also described. “During the Song dynasty, because domestic trade had become so dramatic, it was no longer very convenient for traders to bring back bags and bags of coins.

The exhibition also describes the emergence of China’s first central bank system and the appearance of the first images on the banknotes.

In the 1930s and 1940s, Japan’s invasion of China had a very drastic effect on the Chinese economy. “The Central Bank had to print more money and inflation rose sharply.” One image in the exhibition shows a man cycling with a stack of money on his bike merely to buy a bag of flour.

The first banknotes of the current official Chinese currency (renminbi) started to appear in the 1940s, and since then China has issued five versions of the renminbi. Images printed on the banknotes represented the landscape or the people. “The idea was that to avoid personal worship, the leadership insisted that the landscape and people should be the motif of the Chinese money rather than a national hero or leader.”

So the banknotes depict working people – a farmer driving a tractor, a herdsman with his sheep, textile workers and some of the revolutionary or socialist construction achievements. Other banknotes depict more socialist motifs: intellectuals, farmers and soldiers.

“The ideology is changing because China is called the people’s republic and therefore the idea was that people should be represented on its money.”

The exhibition also describes a number of recent precautions taken to curtail forgery – a major problem. The banknotes are marked by the red and blue colour fibres, carved intaglio printing, security line, big profiles, watermark and numbers.

Another monetary exhibition – on the coins of the crusades – is being organised by Heritage Malta and will be exhibited later this month. Another joint collaboration between the China Cultural Centre and Heritage Malta is planned for January. The upcoming exhibition will deal with the characters of the Beijing Opera and will also include 60 costumes and a lecture-demonstration on the make-up and the meaning of the costumes.

The Archaeology Museum is open every day of the week, including Sundays and public holidays between 9am and 5pm. Last entrance at 4.30pm. Adults pay Lm1 to enter the museum, and there is no extra fee for the Money of China exhibition. Over 60s and under 19s pay 50 cents while children under 12 pay 25 cents. Student cards are accepted.