Traditional interpretations of the coinage of Claudius place all issues at the Rome mint. Both RIC and von Kaenel, major references in use today, disregard the existence of any western mints after the closure of the facilities at Lugdunum (modern Lyons). However, stylistic analysis of western hoards demonstrates that there were additional official mints. For more information, see the article by Besombes and Barrandon in Revue Numismatique 2000. http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/numi_0484-8942_2000_num_6_155_2281 Here is a specimen in my collection: ROME. Claudius. AD 41-53. Æ As (28mm, 11.64 g, 6 h). Official issue. Iberian mint I, engraver A. Struck AD 41-circa 50. Bare head left Minerva advancing right, brandishing spear and holding round shield; S C flanking RIC I -; Besombes & Barrandon pl. V, 2/3 (obv./rev.)
Randy, yours was probably an imitation. I collect those from time to time as well. IMITATIONS. Claudius. AD 41-53 Æ As (26mm, 5.71 g, 4 h). Britain. Struck circa AD 43-64. Bare head left Minerva advancing right, brandishing spear and holding round shield; S C flanking Sutherland grade IV Found near Canterbury, Kent
I wondered why you uploaded so many claudius bronzes to your forvm gallery, lol. Interesting. Didnt even know such things existed for these. They all seem rough though.
I've been attracted to coins of Claudius that appear to be 'not Rome' but never have a good grasp on how to tell barbarous from branch mints. Each of these strike me as in that category but I know nothing. The brockage was purchased because it was a brockage and AE brockages are not common. The countermarked one was bought for the countermark. Both are currently in my catalog as barbarous (agree???). The other sestertius has a very good treatment of the transparent drapery to be barbarous so I am considering it and the Libertas as branch. Not reading French will hinder my appreciation of an article with no photos.
I knew I should have linked to the plates: http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/numi_0484-8942_2000_num_6_155_2744 It's not the most convenient system, but we mustn't complain too loud over free knowledge. Doug, the brockage looks to be from the same mint as my first piece. The countermarked imitations Spes sestertii, in my experience, rarely occur in the same styles as the more common Minerva asses. I believe they had a different circulation pattern. I used to have a nice Gallic long-neck as, but ended up selling it before I knew about the branch mints.
Examples of these branch mints were found in the Camalodunum excavations. According to Boon (Counterfeit Coins in Roman Britain), it is unlikely that any major mints existed in Britain at this time, yet possibility remains that a few minor counterfeiting operations were running. Download the Coins portion of the Camalodunum reports: http://cat.essex.ac.uk/reports/CAR-report-0004.pdf
I have one that has been discussed on Forvm ancient coins here and appears to probably hving been minted in Spain. here it is in it's "splendor" Q
