The Roman conquest of Britain didn't begin in earnest until the reign of Claudius, after which occur these imitative types, modeled after asses of Claudius with Minerva reverse... Are they rare? I could only find this one for comparison - the engraver of that coin was obviously attempting a more faithful copy of the Roman style. Where were they minted, and by which tribe(s)? My guess is the Trinovantian tribal oppidum of Camulodunon (modern Colchester), as the Trinovantes had been minting coins there for some time prior to Roman incursion, and Camulodunon falls squarely in the middle of the sphere of Claudian campaigns (yellow lines at lower right)... Again, any information anyone can share on this type would be greatly appreciated!
C. H. V. Sutherland, Romano-British Imitations of Bronze Coins of Claudius I. (Numismatic Notes and Monographs, 65). New York: The American Numismatic Society, Broadway at 156th Street, 1935.
These are among the original "Limes Falsa" types and are known in both Britain and northern Gaul during the same time-frame. (This is also why the now-accepted term "Limes Denarius" is absurd, but I guess it's too late to change that perception now.) Just to share - this is a "Limes" contemporary copy of an Agrippa Neptune as - with a C/M of Claudius. There is some question whether the C/M was applied post-strike or was built into the dies originally to make the piece appear to have a C/M officially approving it for circulation.
Great OP - fantastic style on that one. I first heard of these Claudius imitations on esty.ancients.info - a really interesting site. http://esty.ancients.info/imit/imitclaudius.html
No. They are common in England. They do not sell well enough for a lot of them to have been brought across the Atlantic, but many are over there, in all sizes from close to the original, to very thin and much smaller. As @Marsyas Mike noted, there is a site which illustrates a variety of them.
Once upon a time, this cruder, imitative stuff would not have done anything for me aesthetically, though I have always appreciated its history. It's kind of growing on me a little bit, though. That is indeed a cool coin.
I'm not entirely sure if mine is imitative or not. The condition is rough enough I couldn't tell. It weighs 10.14 grams which is closer to an "official" weight I think.
