This is a relic of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, and is made of pure silver.
Inlaid in a ring like a decoration, the size of the abacus is 1 cm × 0.5
cm. It has seven rods and on each rod there are seven beads. With a
diameter of less than 1mm, the little beads are not made of filamentary
silver, because they have no seams even when being examined under a
microscope. More surprisingly, the beads can be moved easily and
smoothly along the silver rods. For operating this tiny abacus,
fingertips are too big. It seems that the beads can only be moved by
small tools such as pins. However, this is no problem for this abacus’s
primary user—the ancient Chinese lady, for she only needs to pick one
from her many hairpins.
More on the history of the abacus and examples of unusual ones at
China Culture.
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