Calling CCF Ancients Collectors: What Does Ae-1,2 Etc. Mean?

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Author	Replies: 7 / Views: 1,198
Matteproof Pillar of the Community Korea, Republic Of 1881 Posts	Posted 07/27/2014 10:15 am Over in the Korean forum we are having a ancient coin giveaway contest, and the question is: "How are late Roman bronzes sorted by the AE1-4 scale?" The prize is 5 ancient Roman coins. Quite difficult to find/ buy them in Korea so this is my chance. BTW I am allowed to "ask the experts" to answer the question. Report this Post to the Staff

Whizb4ng Pillar of the Community Canada 579 Posts	Posted 07/27/2014 10:24 am It is by size and weight isn't it? This link should help you out: http://www.forumancientcoins.com/nu...p?key=nummus Report this Post to the Staff
Kamnaskires Pillar of the Community United States 7066 Posts	Posted 07/27/2014 10:55 am AE = bronze I believe this is the standard: AE2 = 21 - 25mm AE3 = 17 - 21mm AE4 = less than 17mm Not sure (I don't collect Romans) but I suspect AE1 must indicate a size over 25mm. Report this Post to the Staff
FVRIVS RVFVS Pillar of the Community United States 3445 Posts	Posted 07/27/2014 11:02 am The link provided sums it up pretty well. The problem I believe is that no one is really sure what the various size bronzes were called at the time they were used. People probably had some terms to distinguish them apart. When coin reference books came into use in the early 20th century it was simpler to simply distinguish with 4 categories based on diameter. The coins of the later fifth century became so rediculously small it is hard to believe that they had any intrinsic value at all ! Mere tokens of exchange I would tend to think. Report this Post to the Staff
Ben Pillar of the Community United Kingdom 4208 Posts	Posted 07/27/2014 12:12 pm You also have the AE system used with the actual size (AE13 for 13mm, AE43 for 43mm etc). Also you have the other metals - AR (Argentum, Silver), AV (Aurum, gold), EL (Electrum, a gold alloy). You might see some other abbreviations which you'll have to guess, like BI for Billon or BR for Brass, but these arent standard. Report this Post to the Staff
Matteproof Pillar of the Community Korea, Republic Of 1881 Posts	Posted 07/27/2014 12:26 pm Thanks everyone for all the comments! You guys are super! Report this Post to the Staff
jcmworld Pillar of the Community United States 567 Posts	Posted 07/27/2014 5:51 pm The smaller ones were sometimes left in the sealed cloth bags from the mint and traded that way. We have the lead bullae from the bag closures and documentary evidence that this was done. The AE[size in mm] is only used for Greek coins. The British Museum catalogers developed both systems in the 1870's. RIC continued to use it. Before that Mionnet's scale was used to describe coin sizes. Report this Post to the Staff
Matteproof Pillar of the Community Korea, Republic Of 1881 Posts	Posted 07/28/2014 11:50 am You guys are super! I won the contest, getting 'em good ol' ancients! Report this Post to the Staff
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