The County of Wei issued "pao," cowrie imitations of bronze, as small change. As more valuable coins Wei had big knife coins "dao," spade coins "bu," and ring coins "huanqiuan." Since the inscriptions on the pao-coin resemble the image of an ant, these coins are called "ant coins" or also "ant nose money." It is yet unknown what the inscriptions actually mean; they are, however, mostly interpreted as indications of value and thus read as "wu shu" – as 5 shu today.