Central Italy, Undefined Italic Tribe, Aes rude

This specimen is not an actual coin but a so-called pre-monetary medium of exchange. Such monies differ from coins as they are not marked, neither with an indication of value nor with a mint authority. Still, they served as means of payment and as measures of value. In numismatics, these early central-italic copper ingots are called aes rude, the Latin word for crude ore.