Editing Roman Republican currency (section)

==Cast bronze coinage==
{{Coin image box 1 double
| header =
| image = File:Vecchi 051 - transparent background.PNG
| caption_left = '''[[Obverse and reverse|O:]]''' Bearded head of Janus, I horizontally below; on a raised disk.
| caption_right = '''[[Obverse and reverse|R:]]''' Prow of galley right; I above; all on a raised disk.
| width = 300
| footer = Anonymous Æ Aes Grave ''As'' (259.53 g). c 225-217 BC.  RRC 35/1; Vecchi 75
| position = left
| margin = 4
}}
According to Pomponius, a lawyer who lived during the 2nd century AD, the group of three mint magistrates [[tresviri monetales]] was established in 289 BC, but this date seems to be far too early, and if they did not come into existence during the Second Punic War, the formation of a formal college may not have occurred until some time after 200 BC.  The three members of this committee were officially known as the "tres viri aere argento auro flando feriundo" ("the three men responsible for casting and striking bronze, silver and gold"), a lengthy title that was almost always abbreviated to "III.V.A.A.A.F.F.". Julius Caesar briefly raised their number to four.

According to [[the Suda|Suidas]], the [[Mint (coin)|mint]] was located in (or at least near) the temple of Juno Moneta on the [[Capitoline Hill]]. By this time Rome was familiar with coinage, as it had been introduced to Italy in the Greek colonies of Metapontum, Croton, and Sybaris before 500 BC and Neapolis ca 450 BC.<ref>Rutter 2001:10,68</ref> Rome had conquered a large portion of central Italy, giving it large quantities of bronze, but little silver.

A system of heavy cast leaded bronze coinage was introduced; these issues are known as '''[[aes grave]]''' (heavy bronze) by numismatists. Stylistically the coins were distinctly Roman and, due to both their size and their being cast rather than struck, crude compared to the coinage elsewhere around the Mediterranean at the time. The standard coin was the ''[[as (coin)|as]]''; the word ''as'' referred to a coin and also to a unit of weight – in fact, ''as'' could also mean any unit – of length, area, and sometimes just the number one.<ref>Willis 1972</ref>

The bronze coinage was initially a more or less [[full value currency]] rather than a token currency, based on the "[[libral standard]]" where the ''as'' weighed one Roman pound ([[Ancient Roman units of measurement|libra]]) with fractions in units of Roman ounces ([[Ancient Roman units of measurement|unciae]]), with 12 unciae in a libra. The "uncia" was thus also both a weight and a coin of the same weight. This changed when the weight of the aes grave was decreased to approximately 10 unciae ca 270 BC (the "light [[libral standard]]", remaining at that level until 225 BC, then suddenly to 5 unciae (the "semi-libral standard") c. the start of the second Punic war in 218 BC, finally falling to 1.5–1 unciae around 211 BC.<ref>Crawford 1974:131–236</ref>

In addition to the ''as'' and its fractions, multiples of the ''as'' were also produced. Fractions were much more common than ''asses'' and their multiples during the period of aes grave.<ref>Crawford 1985:23,60</ref> By the time of the semi-[[libral]] standard, the smaller denominations such as the uncia and semuncia were struck rather than cast. A variety of less common denominations were minted over time; those found in Crawford (1974) are listed here.
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%; text-align: left; "
|-
! colspan="8" |'''Bronze Denominations in Crawford (1974)'''
|-
!Obverse
!Reverse
! width="85" align="center" | Name
! width="45" align="center" | Mark
! width="70" align="center" | Earliest Example
! width="100" align="center" | Date
! width="70" align="center" | Value  (''Asses'')
! width="70"  align="center" | Value (Unciae)
|-
| colspan="2" |[[File:Decussis.jpg|frameless]]
| align="center" | Decussis
| align="center" | X
| align="center" | RRC 41/1
| align="center" | 215–212 BC
| align="center" | 10&nbsp;
| align="center" | 120
|-
| colspan="2" |[[File:Quincussis.JPG|frameless]]
| align="center" | Quincussis
| align="center" | V
| align="center" | RRC 41/2
| align="center" | 215–212 BC
| align="center" | 5&nbsp;
| align="center" | 60
|-
|[[File:Monnaie._Tressis,_Rome_-_btv1b104208743_(1_of_2).jpg|frameless|105x105px]]
|[[File:Monnaie._Tressis,_Rome_-_btv1b104208743_(2_of_2).jpg|frameless|105x105px]]
| align="center" | Tressis
| align="center" | III
| align="center" | RRC 41/3
| align="center" | 215–212 BC
| align="center" | 3
| align="center" | 36
|-
| colspan="2" |[[File:Volaterrae_dupondius_620025.jpg|frameless]]
| align="center" | [[Dupondius]]
| align="center" | II
| align="center" | RRC 41/4
| align="center" | 215–212 BC
| align="center" | 2
| align="center" | 24
|-
| colspan="2" |[[File:Vecchi_051_-_transparent_background.PNG|frameless]]
| align="center" | ''[[as (coin)|As]]''
| align="center" | I
| align="center" | RRC 14/1
| align="center" | 280–276 BC
| align="center" | 1
| align="center" | 12
|-
|[[File:Monnaie._Dextans,_Luceria_-_btv1b104239448_(1_of_2).jpg|frameless|105x105px]]
|[[File:Monnaie._Dextans,_Luceria_-_btv1b104239448_(2_of_2).jpg|frameless|105x105px]]
| align="center" | Dextans
| align="center" | S𐆐𐆐
| align="center" | RRC 97/23
| align="center" | 211–208 BC
| align="center" | 5/6
| align="center" | 10
|-
| colspan="2" |[[File:Dodrans_by_Henry_Cohen.PNG|frameless]]
| align="center" | [[Dodrans]]
| align="center" | S𐆐𐆑
| align="center" | RRC 266/2
| align="center" | 126 BC
| align="center" | 3/4
| align="center" | 9
|-
| colspan="2" |[[File:Bes_by_Henry_Cohen.PNG|frameless]]
| align="center" | [[Bes (coin)|Bes]]
| align="center" | S𐆐
| align="center" | RRC 266/3
| align="center" | 126 BC
| align="center" | 2/3
| align="center" | 8
|-
| colspan="2" |[[File:Vecchi_009.jpg|frameless]]
| align="center" | [[Semis]]
| align="center" | S
| align="center" | RRC 14/2
| align="center" | 280–276 BC
| align="center" | 1/2
| align="center" | 6
|-
| colspan="2" |[[File:Luceria_quincunx_640765.jpg|frameless]]
| align="center" | [[Quincunx (Roman coin)|Quincunx]]
| align="center" | 𐆐𐆐𐆑
| align="center" | RRC 97/11
| align="center" | 211–208 BC
| align="center" | 5/12
| align="center" | 5
|-
| colspan="2" |[[File:Vecchi_003.jpg|frameless]]
| align="center" | [[Triens]]
| align="center" | 𐆐𐆐
| align="center" | RRC 14/3
| align="center" | 280–276 BC
| align="center" | 1/3
| align="center" | 4
|-
| colspan="2" |[[File:Aes_Grave_Quadrans4.jpg|frameless]]
| align="center" | [[Quadrans]]
| align="center" | 𐆐𐆑
| align="center" | RRC 14/4
| align="center" | 280–276 BC
| align="center" | 1/4
| align="center" | 3
|-
| colspan="2" |[[File:Sextans_2710029.jpg|frameless]]
| align="center" | [[Sextans (coin)|Sextans]]
| align="center" | 𐆐
| align="center" | RRC 14/5
| align="center" | 280–276 BC
| align="center" | 1/6
| align="center" | 2
|-
| colspan="2" |[[File:Vecchi_013.jpg|frameless]]
| align="center" | [[Uncia (coin)|Uncia]]
| align="center" | 𐆑
| align="center" | RRC 14/6
| align="center" | 280–276 BC
| align="center" | 1/12
| align="center" | 1
|-
| colspan="2" |[[File:Mercury_Semuncia_200BC.jpg|frameless]]
| align="center" | [[Semuncia]]
| align="center" | 𐆒
| align="center" | RRC 14/7
| align="center" | 280–276 BC
| align="center" | 1/24
| align="center" | 1/2
|-
|[[File:Monnaie._Quartuncia,_Rome_-_btv1b10420720v_(1_of_2).jpg|frameless|105x105px]]
|[[File:Monnaie._Quartuncia,_Rome_-_btv1b10420720v_(2_of_2).jpg|frameless|105x105px]]
| align="center" | Quartuncia
| align="center" | 𐅀
| align="center" | RRC 38/8
| align="center" | 217–215 BC
| align="center" | 1/48
| align="center" | 1/4
|}