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Home ▸ Catalog ▸ |Roman Coins| ▸ |Roman Republic| ▸ |before 211 B.C.||View Options:  |  |  | 

Roman Republic Before 211 B.C. - Pre-Denarius Coinage
Roman Republic, Anonymous, c. 280 B.C.

|before| |211| |B.C.|, |Roman| |Republic,| |Anonymous,| |c.| |280| |B.C.||triens|
The triens (plural trientes) was an Ancient Roman bronze coin produced during the Roman Republic valued at one-third of an as. HUGE 50.5 mm and 83.3 gram bronze!
SH110921. Aes grave (cast) triens, Crawford 14/3 var. (pellets below dolphin); Thurlow-Vecchi 3a var. (same); Haeberlin pl. 39, 15 var. (same); HN Italy 270 var. (same); Sydenham 10, VF, dark green patina, earthen deposits, a few flan flaws, weight 83.342 g, maximum diameter 50.5 mm, die axis 270o, Rome mint, heavy series, c. 280 B.C.; obverse fulmen (thunderbolt), four pellets (mark of value) divided across field; reverse dolphin swimming right, four pellets (mark of value) above; ex CNG auction 90 (23 May 2012), lot 1278; ex L.C. Aes Grave Collection; this coin is the only specimen on Coin Archives and the only specimen known to FORVM with the pellets above the dolphin, HUGE 50.5 mm and 83.3 gram bronze!; extremely rare variant; $2000.00 (€1880.00)
 


Roman Republic and Central Italy, c. 5th - 4th Century B.C., Lot of 40 Small Aes Rude Fragments

|before| |211| |B.C.|, |Roman| |Republic| |and| |Central| |Italy,| |c.| |5th| |-| |4th| |Century| |B.C.,| |Lot| |of| |40| |Small| |Aes| |Rude| |Fragments||Lot|
In Italy, as with other nations, early trade used a system of barter. Aes rude (Latin: "rough bronze"), used perhaps as early as the early 8th century B.C., was the earliest metal proto-currency in central Italy. In the 5th century B.C., bronze replaced cattle as the primary measure of value in trade. Aes rude are rough lumpy bronze ingots with no marks or design, some are flat and oblong, others are square, while many are irregular and shapeless. The metal is mostly copper with roughly 5% tin. Weight varies considerably with some exceeding twelve pounds and others under an ounce. Many smaller examples are fragments of broken larger specimens. A balance was necessary to measure value for commercial transactions.
LT110940. Bronze Lot, Lot of 40 aes rude fragments, cf. BMCRR I p. 1, Haeberlin pl. 1, Vecchi ICC pl. 1, Thurlow-Vecchi pl. 2, SRCV I 505, average weight c. 14g, no tags or flips, the actual pieces in the photograph, as is, no returns, 40 pieces; $400.00 (€376.00)
 


Roman Republic and Central Italy, c. 5th - 4th Century B.C., lot of 15 Aes Rude Fragments

|before| |211| |B.C.|, |Roman| |Republic| |and| |Central| |Italy,| |c.| |5th| |-| |4th| |Century| |B.C.,| |lot| |of| |15| |Aes| |Rude| |Fragments||Lot|
Aes rude is the earliest type of money used by the population of central Italy. They are just irregular pieces of bronze with no marks or designs. More advanced types of currency were used later: Aes Signatum and Aes Grave, and in the end, normal struck coins.
LT110960. Bronze Lot, Lot of 15 aes rude fragments, average weight c. 32.5g, the actual fragments in the photograph, as-is, no returns; $310.00 (€291.40)
 


Roman Republic and Central Italy, c. 5th - 4th Century B.C., Lot of 7 Aes Rude Fragments

|before| |211| |B.C.|, |Roman| |Republic| |and| |Central| |Italy,| |c.| |5th| |-| |4th| |Century| |B.C.,| |Lot| |of| |7| |Aes| |Rude| |Fragments||Lot|
In Italy, as with other nations, early trade used a system of barter. Aes rude (Latin: "rough bronze"), used perhaps as early as the early 8th century B.C., was the earliest metal proto-currency in central Italy. In the 5th century B.C., bronze replaced cattle as the primary measure of value in trade. Aes rude are rough lumpy bronze ingots with no marks or design, some are flat and oblong, others are square, while many are irregular and shapeless. The metal is mostly copper with roughly 5% tin. Weight varies considerably with some exceeding twelve pounds and others under an ounce. Many smaller examples are fragments of broken larger specimens. A balance was necessary to measure value for commercial transactions.
LT110961. Bronze Lot, Lot of 7 aes rude fragments, cf. BMCRR I p. 1, Haeberlin pl. 1, Vecchi ICC pl. 1, Thurlow-Vecchi pl. 2, SRCV I 505, weight c. 40 - 241g, no tags or flips, the actual pieces in the photograph; $310.00 (€291.40)
 


Roman Republic and Central Italy, c. 5th - 4th Century B.C., Lot of 20 Aes Rude Fragments

|before| |211| |B.C.|, |Roman| |Republic| |and| |Central| |Italy,| |c.| |5th| |-| |4th| |Century| |B.C.,| |Lot| |of| |20| |Aes| |Rude| |Fragments||Lot|
In Italy, as with other nations, early trade used a system of barter. Aes rude (Latin: "rough bronze"), used perhaps as early as the early 8th century B.C., was the earliest metal proto-currency in central Italy. In the 5th century B.C., bronze replaced cattle as the primary measure of value in trade. Aes rude are rough lumpy bronze ingots with no marks or design, some are flat and oblong, others are square, while many are irregular and shapeless. The metal is mostly copper with roughly 5% tin. Weight varies considerably with some exceeding twelve pounds and others under an ounce. Many smaller examples are fragments of broken larger specimens. A balance was necessary to measure value for commercial transactions.
LT110964. Bronze Lot, Lot of 20 aes rude fragments, cf. BMCRR I p. 1, Haeberlin pl. 1, Vecchi ICC pl. 1, Thurlow-Vecchi pl. 2, SRCV I 505, weight c. 12 - 119g, no tags or flips, the actual pieces in the photograph, as is, no returns, 20 pieces; $310.00 (€291.40)
 


Roman Republic and Central Italy, c. 5th - 4th Century B.C., Lot of 10 Aes Rude Fragments

|before| |211| |B.C.|, |Roman| |Republic| |and| |Central| |Italy,| |c.| |5th| |-| |4th| |Century| |B.C.,| |Lot| |of| |10| |Aes| |Rude| |Fragments||Lot|
In Italy, as with other nations, early trade used a system of barter. Aes rude (Latin: "rough bronze"), used perhaps as early as the early 8th century B.C., was the earliest metal proto-currency in central Italy. In the 5th century B.C., bronze replaced cattle as the primary measure of value in trade. Aes rude are rough lumpy bronze ingots with no marks or design, some are flat and oblong, others are square, while many are irregular and shapeless. The metal is mostly copper with roughly 5% tin. Weight varies considerably with some exceeding twelve pounds and others under an ounce. Many smaller examples are fragments of broken larger specimens. A balance was necessary to measure value for commercial transactions.
LT110941. Bronze Lot, Lot of 10 aes rude fragments, cf. BMCRR I p. 1, Haeberlin pl. 1, Vecchi ICC pl. 1, Thurlow-Vecchi pl. 2, SRCV I 505, average weight c. 73g, no tags or flips, the actual pieces in the photograph, as is, no returns, 10 pieces; $290.00 (€272.60)
 


Roman Republic and Central Italy, Cast Aes Rude, c. 5th - 4th Century B.C., 20 Fragments

|before| |211| |B.C.|, |Roman| |Republic| |and| |Central| |Italy,| |Cast| |Aes| |Rude,| |c.| |5th| |-| |4th| |Century| |B.C.,| |20| |Fragments||Lot|
In Italy, as with other nations, early trade used a system of barter. Aes rude (Latin: "rough bronze"), used perhaps as early as the early 8th century B.C., was the earliest metal proto-currency in central Italy. In the 5th century B.C., bronze replaced cattle as the primary measure of value in trade. Aes rude are rough lumpy bronze ingots with no marks or design, some are flat and oblong, others are square, while many are irregular and shapeless. The metal is mostly copper with roughly 5% tin. Weight varies considerably with some exceeding twelve pounds and others under an ounce. Many smaller examples are fragments of broken larger specimens. A balance was necessary to measure value for commercial transactions.
LT96143. Bronze Lot, Lot of 20 aes rude fragments, cf. BMCRR I p. 1, Haeberlin pl. 1, Vecchi ICC pl. 1, Thurlow-Vecchi pl. 2, SRCV I 505, 13.908g - 65.836g, no tags or flips, actual pieces in the photograph, as-is, no returns; $270.00 (€253.80)
 


Roman Republic, 4th Century B.C., Aes Formatum, Domed Disk Ingot Fragment

|before| |211| |B.C.|, |Roman| |Republic,| |4th| |Century| |B.C.,| |Aes| |Formatum,| |Domed| |Disk| |Ingot| |Fragment||Aes| |Formatum|
In Italy, as with other nations, early trade used a system of barter. Aes rude (Latin: "rough bronze"), used perhaps as early as the early 8th century B.C., was the earliest metal proto-currency in central Italy. In the 5th century B.C., bronze replaced cattle as the primary measure of value in trade. Called aes formatum by Haeberlin, this very rare bronze currency was later than the aes rude and a precursor to the issues of aes grave. Presumably, the molten bronze alloy was poured into a shallow hole in the dirt. This left a disc-shaped metal mound with a flat reverse. This specimen is a fragment of broken from a disk for a smaller transaction or to make change. A scale was necessary to measure value for commercial transactions.
AS96269. Cast bronze Aes Formatum, cf. Haeberlin p. 4, pl. 2.7; fragment 172.9g, 61mm, VF, light corrosion, earthen encrustation, 4th century B.C.; obverse convex obverse; reverse flat reverse; $150.00 (€141.00)
 


Roman Republic, Anonymous, Semilibral Sextans, c. 217 - 215 B.C.

|before| |211| |B.C.|, |Roman| |Republic,| |Anonymous,| |Semilibral| |Sextans,| |c.| |217| |-| |215| |B.C.||sextans|NEW
The libral standard has its roots in the cast aes grave ("heavy bronze") coinages of the Roman Republic, produced from c. 280 -211 B.C with the base unit being the Roman As. Tied closely at first to the libra, or Roman pound, at roughly 324 grams, and divided into twelve unciae (Roman ounces), the standard gradually fell to ~265 grams (about ten Roman ounces) by c. 269 B.C. This "light libral standard" would continue largely intact until the disastrous start of the Second Punic War (218 -201 B.C.), when the semilibral standard was hastily enacted in c. 217, slicing the As to roughly 162 grams (6 ounces). During this time, the first struck Roman bronze coins appeared, which would soon squeeze out production of the cruder aes grave issues.

In his article, "The Anonymous Struck Bronze Coinage of the Roman Republic," in Essays in Honour of Roberto Russo (2013), Andrew McCabe notes that "uniquely among all series presented in this paper, group AA coins can be classified by weight alone, with an As weight of 120 to 170 grams for most coins, which does not overlap with any later issue."
RR114437. Bronze sextans, McCabe AA.Sx.2, Crawford 38/5, Sydenham 85, Russo RBW 96, aF, major details present, peripheral misplaced partial sprue cut on obv., half moon incision above prow-stem, tiny flan casting void pit on rev., weight 26.553 g, maximum diameter 29.9 mm, die axis 45o, Rome mint, c. 217 - 215 B.C.; obverse Head of Mercury right, wearing a winged petasus; two pellets (mark of value for a Sextans) above; reverse prow of ship right with ram, club inside fighting platform, "ROMA" above, and two pellets (mark of value) below (in exergue); $150.00 (€141.00)
 










REFERENCES

Babelon, E. Monnaies de la Republique Romaine. (Paris, 1885).
Banti, A. & L. Simonetti. Corpus Nummorum Romanorum. (Florence, 1972-1979
Bertol, A. & K Farac. "Aes rude and aes formatum - a new typology" in VAMZ, 3. s., XLV (2012).
Carson, R. Principal Coins of the Romans, Vol. I: The Republic, c. 290-31 BC. (London, 1978).
Crawford, M. "Paestum and Rome: The form and function of a subsidiary coinage" in La monetazione di bronzo do Poseidonia-Paestum. Annali 18-19 Supp. (Naples, 1971).
Crawford, M. Roman Republican Coinage. (Cambridge, 1974).
Grueber, H. Coins of the Roman Republic in The British Museum. (London, 1910).
Haeberlin, E. Aes Grave. Das Schwergeld Roms und Mittelitaliens. (Frankfurt, 1910).
Hoover, O. Handbook of Coins of Sicily (including Lipara), Civic, Royal, Siculo-Punic, and Romano-Sicilian Issues, Sixth to First Centuries BC. HGC 2. (Lancaster, PA, 2011).
Berger, F. Die Münzen der Römischen Republik im Kestner-Museum Hannover. (Hannover, 1989).
McCabe, A. "The Anonymous Struck Bronze Coinage of the Roman Republic: A Provisional Arrangement" in Essays Russo.
Russo, R. The RBW Collection of Roman Republican Coins. (Zurich, 2013).
Rutter, N.ed. Historia Numorum. Italy. (London, 2001).
Sear, D. Roman Coins and Their Values, Volume One, The Republic and the Twelve Caesars 280 BC - AD 86. (London, 2000).
Stannard, C. The local coinages of Central Italy in the late Roman Republic: provisional catalogue, Oct 2007.
Sydenham, E. Aes Grave, a Study of the Cast Coinages of Rome and Central Italy. (London, 1926).
Sydenham, E. The Coinage of the Roman Republic. (London, 1952).
Thurlow, B. & I. Vecchi. Italian Cast Coinage. (Dorchester, 1979).
Vecchi, I. Italian Cast Coinage. (London, 2013).


Early Roman Republic Pre-Coinage and Coin Types

Bronze Pre-Coinage and Cast Coin Types
Aes Rude, c. 5th - 4th Century B.C.
Cast Aes Formatum, c. 4th - Early 3rd Century B.C.
Cast Aes Signatum, c. 289 - 241 B.C.
Cast Aes Grave Coinage, c. 280 - 211 B.C.
- Varied Obverse and Reverse Types, c. 280 - 225 B.C.
- Standardized Types With Prow Reverse, c. 225 - 211 B.C.

Pre-Reform Stuck Coin Types
Pre-Reform Struck Gold Coinage, c. 217 - 216 B.C.
Pre-Denarius Struck Silver Coinage, c. 280 - 211 B.C.
Struck Bronze Litra Coinage, c. 273 - 225 B.C.
Pre-Reform Struck Bronze Coinage, c. 217 - 211 B.C.

Catalog current as of Tuesday, March 19, 2024.
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