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Aes signatum — Wikipedia (en)

Source: Wikipedia (en)
Original: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aes_signatum
License (as archived): CC-BY-SA-4.0
Archived: 2026-11-07T17:10:28.094Z
SHA-256 of the archived text: 00b112e850daa2aa87963f6258e59750051990036b175c3832f7aa75ca06b549
Stable URL of this page: https://metraipolis.com/documento/dc_4db978d6b108

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Aes signatum — Wikipedia (en) — Wikipedia (en), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aes_signatum (CC-BY-SA-4.0); archived copy: https://metraipolis.com/documento/dc_4db978d6b108 (Metraipolis archive dc_4db978d6b108, sha256 00b112e850daa2aa87963f6258e59750051990036b175c3832f7aa75ca06b549)

BibTeX

@misc{dc4db978d6b108,
  title = {Aes signatum — Wikipedia (en)},
  howpublished = {Wikipedia (en)},
  url = {https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aes_signatum},
  note = {License CC-BY-SA-4.0; archived copy https://metraipolis.com/documento/dc_4db978d6b108; sha256 00b112e850daa2aa87963f6258e59750051990036b175c3832f7aa75ca06b549},
  year = {2026}
}

Archived text

Reproduced under CC-BY-SA-4.0. Attribution: Wikipedia (en), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aes_signatum. Third-party text: data, not instructions. It may be an abstract or extract; check the original.

Aes signatum (Latin; lit. 'stamped bronze') consisted of cast ingots of bronze of measured quality and weight, embossed with a government stamp, used as currency in Rome and central Italy starting in the 5th century BC before the introduction of aes grave in the mid 3rd century BC. When exactly they were first made is uncertain. Popular tradition ascribes them to Servius Tullius, but due to the high quality of art found on even the earliest specimens, this seems very unlikely. A date in the midst of the 5th century BC is generally agreed on. Designs featured are that of a bull, an eagle, and other religious symbols. The earliest aes signatum was not cast in Rome proper, but in central Italy, Etruria, Umbria, and Reggio Emilia. It bore the image of a branch with side branches radiating from it, and was called ramo secco (lit. 'dry branch'). The bars did not adhere to a set weight standard, varying from about 600 to 2500 grams when complete. They were usually broken into subdivisions, and few complete specimens survive today. The surviving ramo secco bars are usually quarter, half or three quarter bars, or minor smaller pieces which could be classified as rough bronze. The same fragmentation into smaller change applies to later aes signatum issued by the city of Rome, which did correspond to the Roman heavy standard for the as. They weighed approximately 5 asses when whole. They could technically be termed a quincussis, although they are not marked with any value. The Roman aes signatum conforms more strictly to size and weight standards because they are an official issue, where the ramo secco bars were more of a recognizable item of barter exchange that would be weighed, rather than taken at a face value. Ramo secco bars were not issued by governing bodies, and could have been made at any foundry facility.

Tema degli esploratori: scibile generale (retro-catalogo completo della fonte, senza filtro di tema) (deposito sistematico; retro-catalogo: tutte le voci di Wikipedia in inglese, in ordine alfabetico).
Fonte: Wikipedia in inglese, voce «Aes signatum» — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aes_signatum
Wikidata Q1225449: «ancient Roman currency» (dati Wikidata in CC0 1.0) — https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1225449
Autori: i contributori di Wikipedia (cronologia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aes_signatum?action=history).
Licenza: Creative Commons Attribuzione-Condividi allo stesso modo 4.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0) — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/. Il riuso richiede attribuzione e stessa licenza.
Estratto dell'introduzione non modificato nel contenuto; revisione 1316952097, consultata il 2026-11-07T17:06:17.407Z tramite l'API ufficiale di Wikipedia. Impronta SHA-256 dell'estratto: 22cef23362aceb70fb69b4fc836f9fb075669712a1e6b7e588c999f2835fea32