Aes grave (sextans)
c. 269–266 BC ・ bronze ・ 3rd century BC ・ Rome
obverse
About the photos
The reverse is not shown on this page. Only the obverse is pictured.
A piece of Rome's earliest cast coinage, the aes grave: a sextans (one-sixth of an as) cast with a scallop shell. Dots marked the denomination, and the weight itself was the value. This heavy bronze, setting out centuries behind the Greek colonies, was the first step of the city that would one day rule Mediterranean money.