Real coins·11 March 2026·4 min read
Aes grave — when Rome's money was weighed in kilos
Rome's first money wasn't thin coins, but heavy cast bronze ingots and discs.
Before silver coins, Romans used aes grave — heavy cast bronze money, sometimes weighing hundreds of grams. Their value was, as everywhere at the start, the weight of the metal.
From weight to symbol
Over time, Rome moved to smaller, more practical coins, up to the denarius. It's the same evolution we see everywhere: from heavy, "weighed" money to light money based on trust.
