Currency bar Crescents without star

Tarquinii, the ancient Etruscan city in what is now northern Lazio, produced aes grave and proto-monetary bronze pieces during a period when Rome was consolidating control over Etruria following the wars of the early third century BC. These currency bars represent one of the earlier attempts at standardized bronze exchange in the region, predating the fully developed Roman aes grave system. The crescent devices used here appear on Tarquinian issues without the accompanying star that distinguishes related types — a distinction that has driven the bibliographic separation in ICC and HN Italy classifications.