Aes rude

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...

: ''Naturalis Historia'', XXXIII, XIII, 43 (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, "rough bronze") was a nugget of

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

used as a sort of proto-

currency A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general def ...

in ancient Italy prior to the use of minted coins made from precious metals. The Italian economy of the time (late middle first millennium BC) was based on a

bronze standard Aes rude Pliny the Elder: ''Naturalis Historia'', XXXIII, XIII, 43 (Latin, "rough bronze") was a nugget of bronze used as a sort of proto-currency in ancient Italy prior to the use of minted coins made from precious metals. The Italian economy o ...

(unlike the

silver standard The silver standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is a fixed weight of silver. Silver was far more widespread than gold as the monetary standard worldwide, from the Sumerians 3000 BC until 1873. Following t ...

s in use in contemporary

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, the Aeginetan standard and its competitor the

Attic standard Attic weight, or the Attic standard, also known as Euboic standard, was one of the main monetary standards in ancient Greece. As a result of its use in the coinage of the Athenian empire and the empire of Alexander the Great, it was the dominant ...

). Consequently, unworked lumps of bronze were used as both primitive

ingot An ingot is a piece of relatively pure material, usually metal, that is cast into a shape suitable for further processing. In steelmaking, it is the first step among semi-finished casting products. Ingots usually require a second procedure of sh ...

s and as primitive coins, facilitating trade across the peninsula and paving the way for the first true

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

ingots, the ''

aes signatum AES may refer to: Businesses and organizations Companies * AES Corporation, an American electricity company * AES Data, former owner of Daisy Systems Holland * AES Eletropaulo, a former Brazilian electricity company * AES Andes, formerly AES Gen ...

'', which, in turn, was the precursor of the first Roman true coinage, the ''

aes grave ''Aes grave'' (heavy bronze) is a term in numismatics indicating bronze cast coins used in central Italy during the 3rd century BC, whose value was generally indicated by signs: I for the as, S for semis and pellets for unciae. Standard weights fo ...

''. The earliest surviving piece of ''aes rude'' dates from the early 8th century BC and as late as the late 4th century BC, and was cast in central Italy. It is, simply, bronze, shaped vaguely like a lumpy ingot. Only later on did it become usual to mark these lumps and, eventually, make them into a standard shape (the round, thin disk-shape still in use today).

References

Sources

https://web.archive.org/web/20051228143453/http://dougsmith.ancients.info/feac56cas.html
*Lloyd, J. (trans.), Orrieux, C. & Schmitt Pantel, P., ''A History of Ancient Greece'', Oxford, 1999, Blackwell Publishers, Ltd. * Haeberlin E.: Aes Grave, Das Schwergeld Roms und Mittelitaliens einschließlich der ihm vorausgehenden Rohbronzewährung, Halle 1910 * Sydenham, Edward A.: Aes Grave A Study of the Cast Coinages of Rome and Central Italy. London, Spink, 1926 * Head Barclay V. Historia Nummorum, a Manual of Greek Numismatic, London, 1911 * Gaius Plinius Secundus (Pliny the Elder): Naturalis Historia, XXXIII, XIII, 43 (''antea rudi usos Romae Timaeus tradit''). * Italo Vecchi. ''Italian Cast Coinage. A descriptive catalogue of the cast coinage of Rome and Italy.'' London Ancient Coins, London 2013. Hard bound in quarto format, 84 pages, 92 plates. Hard bound in quarto format,72 pages, 87 plates. A new edition of Italian Cast Coinage (ICC) compiled by Italo Vecchi which summarises the research into Italy's cast bronze coinage since 1885. It lists 327 types from the aes rude and currency bars of early 1st millennium Italy to the final issues during the Second Punic War, many of which are previously unpublished. The book also includes an account of the cast coinages of Rome, Etruria, Umbria, North-East and Central Italy, Lucania and Apulia. Arranged overall by geographical area, the mints within each area are then listed alphabetically; included are details of the historical or geographical background, and an examination of the weight standards and chronology as well as three maps of the area. At the end of the book there are 87 plates illustrating almost all the types in the catalogue. The book is fully indexed for ease of reference. {{DEFAULTSORT:Aes Rude Coins of ancient Rome fr:As (monnaie)#Aes rude

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