On ancient coins we often find Libertas holding what is usually described as an abacus, the ancient counting board or calculator using beads. The reverse was issued to mark a largesse, a money offering to the people of Rome. Recently, Curtis Clay argued that what we see on the coins is actually a money shovel: a wooden tablet with round holes, very resembling to a modern coin collection tray. This shovel would be placed in the coin chest, removed full of coins and shaken until the desired number of coins would remain in the holes.

On ancient coins we often find Libertas holding what is usually described as an abacus, the ancient counting board or calculator using beads. The reverse was issued to mark a largesse, a money offering to the people of Rome. Recently, Curtis Clay argued that what we see on the coins is actually a money shovel: a wooden tablet with round holes, very resembling to a modern coin collection tray. This shovel would be placed in the coin chest, removed full of coins and shaken until the desired number of coins would remain in the holes.