These pieces, listed by Coole and others as "debatable" money items were traditionally considered charms by Chinese collectors, but Mr. Sun Zhong-hui, well-known Shanghai numismatist, recently wrote that he believed them to be tools to aid in hand-washing. The two examples shown here have a similar look to openwork charms, and were probably made by the same craftsmen. The larger piece is robust and rounded, as the nicest charms of the early Ming dynasty and before. The smaller piece is flat in the handle, and the projections in the grater very uneven, suggesting that it is a second-generation casting. In fact, the smaller piece is so uneven that it is unsuitable for the scraping action of hand-washing, suggesting that it may indeed have some purpose other than utilitarian.