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Aes Formatum Circle
| Issuer | |
|---|---|
| Year | 400 BC - 201 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Bronze |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Multiple concentric rings radiating outward from a raised central boss, each ring decorated with a finely incised rope-like or granulated pattern. The outermost ring is defined by a raised border with similar textured ornamentation, framing the entire composition. The design is entirely geometric and anepigraphic, executed in the cast bronze technique characteristic of early Italian pre-monetary currency. Surface displays an aged olive-brown patina consistent with prolonged burial, with traces of green cuprite corrosion in recessed areas. |
|---|---|
| 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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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Aes formatum — raw cast bronze in irregular shapes — preceded the more familiar aes grave coinage and circulated in central Italy as a pre-monetary commodity medium, valued by weight rather than by any issuing authority's guarantee. These circular pieces occupy an awkward classificatory middle ground: shaped enough to suggest intentionality, yet unstruck and uninscribed.
Rome's shift toward a true fiduciary coinage in the third century BC slowly displaced such pieces, accelerating sharply after the First Punic War forced monetary standardization to fund an unprecedented naval buildup.