Reply to Thread

Message:: [QUOTE="rrdenarius, post: 3148343, member: 75525"]The piece looks good to me.What I tell my wife (and others who ask) how I know the pieces I have are really 2000+ years - there is no way of knowing. If the piece has find information, you could improve your chances, but I bet you do not. You can do a bit of looking on line and see plenty of pieces. Get a feel what they look like and then use your judgement on the seller. I would avoid a seller without some ancient numismatic background.I have a few, and have posted some of them on this site and in my blog:<a href="http://rrdenarius.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://rrdenarius.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">http://rrdenarius.blogspot.com/</a>Cast bronze came in many shapes: irregular nuggets (like yours), bars with and without decorations, broken bars, shapes, cast coins, etc. They had many uses: proto money, votive offerings, raw material for a forge, a way to store wealth, etc.There are a few books on the subject. A good one is Italian Cast Coinage by Thurlow and Vecchi. Most of the pieces in my collection were labeled as coming from Central Italy. This is because those areas were later part of Rome, but not when produced. The Greek colonies in southern Italy issued coins.[ATTACH=full]806001[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]806036[/ATTACH] Welcome to the aes rude collector's club. I hope you find plenty more finds.[/QUOTE]