aes rude
- Museum number
- R1921,1014.5
- Description
-
Unworked lump of copper alloy used as currency (aes rude).
- Production date
- 500BC (circa)
- Dimensions
-
Weight: 205.50 grammes
- Curator's comments
- Lump of bronze (aes rude) from Italy, c. 500 BC. Similar pieces have been found in hoards of coins as late as the 3rd century BC. In Italy lumps of unworked or scrap bronze were used as a form of currency during the 1st millennium BC. Later Roman authors used the term aes rude ('rough bronze') to describe what they thought was the first stage of the Roman monetary system. The Romans used units of bronze as a way of assessing value from the 6th and 5th centuries BC. A law of 450 BC specifies that 'if he has broken a free man's bone, 300, if a slave's, 150 are to be the penalty'.
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1921
- Acquisition notes
- Provenance on ticket now difficult to read [Punta of S....]? Possibly Sulmona?
- Department
- Coins and Medals
- Registration number
- R1921,1014.5
- Additional IDs
-
Miscellaneous number: HSBC.1003 (Money Gallery Exhibited)
