Catalog
| Issuer | Uncertain Etruscan mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 240 BC - 225 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Round (irregular) |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Central raised boss surrounded by six radiating spokes forming a wheel motif, all contained within a plain raised border. The spokes are rendered in low relief with slightly tapered ends, giving the design a bold, archaic character. The field between spokes is flat and unadorned. The overall composition is strongly geometric, consistent with the aes grave tradition of central Italian coinage. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
The heavy cast bronze of central Italy's pre-Roman monetary tradition required no issuing authority to stamp its value — weight alone was the guarantee. This piece belongs to a cluster of Etruscan wheel-type asses whose attribution remains genuinely contested; ICC#155 places it within an uncertain mint grouping rather than assigning it to any single city, and that ambiguity has persisted through decades of scholarship. At over 180 grams, it represents the libral or near-libral standard before the systematic reductions of the Second Punic War period drove aes grave weights into rapid decline.