Imaginary portrait of Apuleius in an IV century contorniato with the inscription "Apuleius"
A contorniato is a kind of medal or bronze medallion or other noble metals. There is the Spanish term, contoured, but fell out of use in front of medallion contoured and above all against the aforementioned Italian word, contorniato.
Contorniates are characterized by having a deep groove or incision in the contour or edge, as if they had been minted in a lathe. It seems clear that these medallions go back to a Greek origin (and previous), since its elaboration derives from the numismatics, of the coinage of currencies [3]. They were widely used as gifts, often containing portraits of personalities (see Apuleius, in the image), especially of emperors. Bibliography
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