Editing Roman Republican currency (section)

==Before coinage==
Before the introduction of coinage in Italy the two important forms of value in the economy were sheep (''pecus''), from which the [[Latin]] word for money (''pecunia'') is believed by some to have been derived, and irregularly shaped pieces of bronze known as '''[[aes rude]]''' (''rough bronze'') which needed to be weighed for each transaction. It is unclear when money became commonly used, but Roman tradition recorded that pay of the army began during the siege of Veii in 406 BC and it appears that Aes rude was the currency well before this.  Toward the end of the 4th century BC bronze began to be cast in flat bars which are known today, without any historical authority, as '''[[aes signatum]]''' (''signed bronze''). These bars were heavily leaded, of varying weights although generally on the order of five [[Roman pound]]s, and usually had a design on one and later both sides. The actual function of aes signatum has been variously interpreted; although a form of currency they were not coins since they did not adhere to a weight standard. Rome produced its own aes signatum around 300 BC which are distinguished by the inscription "ROMANOM" (of the Romans) and production continued to about the end of the first Punic war in 240 BC,<ref>Thurlow-Vecchi 1979:17,18, Plates 11–23</ref> overlapping some of the developments described below.