AE is an abbreviation or symbol for a base metal or base metal alloy, usually copper, brass or bronze. The abbreviation AE is derived from the Latin word aes. See also AR (silver) and AV (gold). AE is often used with a number indicating a coin 's size either in millimeters or using the following scale:
L 'Année épigraphique. (Paris, 1888 - present).
The Epigraphic Year.
L 'Année épigraphique is a French publication on epigraphy. It was set up by René Cagnat, as holder of the chair of 'Epigraphy and Roman antiquities ' at the Collège de France and Jean-Guillaume Feignon, as assistant epigraphist, in 1888. It was linked to the Revue archéologique until the issue dated 1964, when it became an autonomous publication of the PUF benefiting from a grant from the CNRS, a part was edited under its aegis. It systematically collects all the inscriptions discovered each year from all across the world concerning Ancient Rome, mainly in Latin or ancient Greek, and sorted by period.