1st coin in the world?

The question of the world's first coin, the oldest coin, has long been debated and is still very much debated today. In trying to answer the question, much depends on the definition you use for "coin."

The first metal coins are regarded by some as having been invented in China. The earliest known Chinese metal tokens were made ca. 900 BC, discovered in a tomb near Anyang. These were replicas in bronze of earlier Chinese money, cowrie shells, so they were named Bronze Shell