Ira and Larry Goldberg Auctioneers
Auction 91 7-8 June 2016
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Anonymous. Æ Partial Disk-shaped Aes Formatum (229.63 g), 4th century BC. Mounded obverse, flat reverse. ICC pp. 26-8, pl. 84; Haeberlin p. 4, pl. 2, 7. Heavy concretions and deposits over green patina. Otherwise virtually as made.
While native sources for precious metals were scarce in Italy, mining of bronze stretched back into prehistoric times. Small bronze lumps, called aes rude, are regularly found in ceremonial settings thought to be votive deposits offered to various divinities, and are also found in hoards that suggest a use in exchange. Even before Rome developed a uniform coinage system in the early third century B.C. it had already codified the rates of exchange for oxen and sheep in bronze. As bronze was traded by weight during this period, bronze hoards often contain everyday objects such as axes, adzes, weights, various animal shapes, and large cake-shaped disks, frequently broken into smaller chunks as is the case here. Haeberlin called these items aes formatum, and they served and perhaps inspired later aes grave issues. Estimated Value $300 - 400
While native sources for precious metals were scarce in Italy, mining of bronze stretched back into prehistoric times. Small bronze lumps, called aes rude, are regularly found in ceremonial settings thought to be votive deposits offered to various divinities, and are also found in hoards that suggest a use in exchange. Even before Rome developed a uniform coinage system in the early third century B.C. it had already codified the rates of exchange for oxen and sheep in bronze. As bronze was traded by weight during this period, bronze hoards often contain everyday objects such as axes, adzes, weights, various animal shapes, and large cake-shaped disks, frequently broken into smaller chunks as is the case here. Haeberlin called these items aes formatum, and they served and perhaps inspired later aes grave issues. Estimated Value $300 - 400