Denarius: Ramo Secco bar

I have been interested in cast bronze from Rome and central Italy for a while. I have several cast coins, bars and odd shaped items. This week I picked up a second RS bar. The following pics are from the seller. My bar is in the last two pictures. It will be interesting to compare this bar to one I bought earlier this year (pics at bottom).

2238 grams

1084 grams

893 grams

my bar

Compare the British Museum description to the ones I bought.

Dec 2016 purchase - see pictures directly above

AE Ramo Secco. Central Italy, Aemilia (?), late 6th to 4th century BC. Vecchi ICC, 3.2. TV AS 1. Haeberlin pl. 7, 6. AE. g. 893.00 RR. C. mm. 88 x 67 x 32. Very rare. Heavy dark-green patina with minor earthen-brown highlights. The Ramo Secco cast ingots are found predominantly in Emilia, hence the attribution to his region. Always found in fragments, they generally weigh from 500 grams to 2000 grams.

British Museum

'Ramo secco' bar, c. 6th-4th century BC. The name derives from the design of a 'dry branch'. Such bars are found principally in northern central Italy. An early date is suggested by the discovery of one piece in a stratum of an excavation near Gela in Sicily which has been dated by the pottery finds to the 6th century BC.

http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1171056&partId=1&place=24543&plaA=24543-2-11&page=1

May 2016 - see pictures below

Roman Republican Ramo Secco Currency Bar (Aes Signatum)

CENTRAL ITALY, Emilia(?): 6^th to 4^th century BC

Fragment of a bronze ingot, on both sides branch with no leaves.

AE. 826 grams; Length = 62 mm, Width = 77 mm, Height = 36 mm

Thurlow-Vecchi AS1.

Vecchi – 3.1

HNI – pg 45 – highly ferruginous bars made apparently from 6^th century in southern Etruria, Emilia and occasionally Sicily.

Grueber – lists 2 bars, but not RS

Cr – lists bars, but not RS

Syd AG – not in Sydenham