Silver 10 Asses Male head series II

Populonia, on the Etruscan coast north of Piombino, was unusual among Italic cities in striking silver coinage directly from its own metal resources — the iron and copper ore trade of the nearby island of Elba funded a mint active long after most Etruscan neighbors had abandoned independent coinage. The 10-as denomination places this piece within a weight standard that declined markedly over the roughly century-long span of issue, meaning earlier and later specimens within this type can differ noticeably in heft despite sharing a nominal value.

The city was absorbed by Rome no later than the early second century BC, making the lower bound of this issue's date range essentially the endpoint of Populonian civic autonomy.