Yeah, yeah. "Ry to the ro, you eat a 261 gr hunk of bronze..."= You might say. Yet, here I am with what was misidentified as: BRONZE AGE. Proto Money. Cut Down Piece of a "Aes Rude" Style Bronze Ingot (2000-800 BC). Obv: Flat surface. Rev: Flat surface. . This type of ingots is an intermediate product of prehistoric copper processing in Europe and an early form of currency. It was available both in pure copper and in various mostly natural bronze alloys. The archaeological finds contain both whole cakes in various sizes and pieces. Condition: See picture. Weight: g. Diameter: mm." No size nor weight? And what clearly looks like an entire cake, pancake, Aes Rude or Formatum (fun write up from FORVM if you want more) https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=aes formatum However, due to Numismatik Naumann having a cut down piece as their #1 coin in that auction, my coin, #2, just didn't get properly identified. I emailed them and asked the coins proportions and was given a staggering 6cm and 261 gr And here's what I purchased on the sly for 80 euro before the juice with my identification below, that just landed in my mailbox (throwing my mail carrier's spine out of alignment in the process): BRONZE AGE. Proto Money. "Aes Rude" Style Bronze Cake shaped Ingot (2000-400 BC). 261 g, 6 cm. This type of ingots is an intermediate product of prehistoric copper processing in Europe and an early form of currency. It was available both in pure copper and in various mostly natural bronze alloys. The archaeological finds contain both whole cakes in various sizes and pieces. Purchased from Numismatik Naumann Feb 2022 If you don't believe me in the size and weight... At the dawn of recorded history what we/humans, in and around Rome, would do is pour heated AE into predug circular holes and the circular mass (cake), after cooling, would usually be broken into several pieces, with the weight of the chunk being it's intrinsic value. It's circular and it's metal. Tell me how this is proto and not cold, hard coinage? Please share your ugly or pretty massive coins, proto Money, Rude Aes Graves cakes et al.
Are you sure that isn't a photo of a giant asteroid hurtling through the sky, about to hit the Earth? My largest numismatic item is probably this one, a large unofficial Victoria coronation medal from 1838 by Benedetto Pistrucci, at 87 mm. and 328 g. This medal is the reason I bought a bottle of Verdicare. I want to see if it works on those green spots.
That’s a COW-PIE @Ryro ! my largest stamped / hammered coin Carthage 201-175 BCE Æ 15 Shekels 45 mm 7.5 mm thick. 102g Wreathed Tanit Horse Uraeus above. MAA 104 SNG Cop 400 and I always like my Mexican 50 Peso coins at 1.2 TOZ sizes… so cool of a coin! The specific gravity is so cool to feel.
@Ryro .....OOH...That's Impressive! My biggest chunk is a mere... .... Castulo, Spain AE As. 30 mm, 22g. 76-45 BC. ISCER SACAL, youthful male head right. CAST SOCED, sphinx right. Burgos (2008) 709; Ripolles 905; Villaronga 14.
I always keep an eye out for the 45mm Carthaginian manhole cover. They don't come up too often at auction.
Massive and impressive! If you launched that into space, Earth would have another moon. Here's my accompanying flying saucer... PICENUM, Hatria AE Aes Grave Teruncius. 113.9g, 48.1mm. PICENUM, Hatria, circa 275-225 BC. HN Italy 14; Sydenham 188; HGC 1, 8 (R2). O: HAT, fish (or dolphin) swimming right. R: Stingray or skate swimming right; ••• (mark of value) below. Ex D.L.F. Sealy Collection
Always happy to show it... one of my favorite coins! ZEUGITANA, Carthage early 2nd century BCE AE 15-shekel, 45 mm, 95 gm Obv: wreathed head of Tanit left Rev: horse standing right, left foreleg up; solar disk with uraei (or is that the Flying Spaghetti Monster?) above Ref: Alexandropoulos J (2000) Les monnaies de l'Afrique Antique, 103; Müller L (1861) Numismatique de L'Ancienne Afrique, 131; Luynes 3782; Jenkins GK and Lewis RB (1963) Carthaginian Gold and Electrum Coins, Royal Numismatic Society, London, pl. 28 12
I thought I was doing well with this beautiful Medallion 66.56 gr 60mm. Your 'coin' is a MONSTER! As yet unattributed Exposition Medal that I picked up simply as I thought she was so beautiful. I have tried high and low to find a reference for this baby to no avail. (Was mentioned in E-Sylum Newsletter and no one can find a reference for it)
I got these bronze monsters from Portugal a couple years ago. The 1984 is 319.7 grams and 10 cm D. The 1998 Vasco de Gama is only 304.6 grams and 8.9 cm D.
Very impressive! I wonder what the vending machines were like back then..... The only proto money that I have is a two shekel AR ingot (hacksilver), late Bronze Age - early Iron Age, 13th-10th century BC: 25.90 grams
Congratulations on getting one for that price. Like the forvm article discusses, I don't think these can be dated to earlier than 5/4th c bc. For some strange reason my scale also outputs a weird weird weight
My heaviest, weighing in at 276.94 (I don't know how they got the .94) is a Wheel-type Aes Grave As. However, it's not ugly but is spectacularly attractive in my eyes. I've posted this here before but due to finances, I get very few new coins lately. Roman Republic, Wheel type Aes Grave As, ca. 269-240 BC 276.94 g Roman Republic, [common] Janus Head Aes Grave As, ca. 225 -217 BC. ~ 258 g I also have 2 large high grade Roman bronze medallions. I suppose it's a good thing that investors with money avoid Roman bronze?