Grave Pubblico Deposited
Or more properly As. A Latin word of probably Arian origin, meaning both pure copper and a mixture of tin and copper. The term served afterwards in Rome as a generic word for every variety of money.
The earliest types of the Aes are called the Aes Rude or Aes nfectum, i.e., unwrought copper. There was no monetary unit and the weight formed the basis of all exchanges.
- Frey's Dictionary (American Journal of Numismatics, Vol. 50, 1916)