First the background: The Celtic-British tribe, the Atrebates, had become an ally of the Romans after their defeat on the continent by Julius Ceasar in 55 BCE. By the early 40s, the Artrebates and their king, Verica, had become Rome’s client kingdom in Britain. Verica’s Artrebate kingdom was overrun in the early AD 40s by the Catuvellauni under Cunobelin and his son, Caratacus. Verica fled to Rome, appealing to their ally and patron Rome for help. This gave the Roman Emperor Claudius the pretext to invade Britain in AD 43. While reviewing a current Heritage auction, I found these coins interesting. The coin from the Atrebates, who were Rome’s client kingdom, has a picture of a vine leaf. This would be consistent with a people that held Rome and its influence favorably (wine instead of beer, for example). The Catuvellauni were less friendly with Rome. The obverse of the Catuvellauni coin has an ear of grain. This image on the coin could reflect their proud adherence to their traditional Celtic traditions, including the preference of Celtic beer to Roman wine. The reverse of the coin also portrays the traditional Celtic image of a horse. Interestingly, the Catuvellauni were inevitably influenced by the Romans. Note the Latin inscriptions on the coin: CA-MV : The city of Camulodunum CVN : King Cunobelin This map shows the tribal regions of ancient Britain that produced coins during the period c.100BC-AD50 The tribal names were those recorded later by classical commentators. http://www.celticcoins.com/pages/Tribal_Map.pdf Does this sound correct? Any opinions and insights would be appreciated. I have no expertise on this matter. guy
Wow where is medoraman when you need him. I have no clue, but this is exactly why I want to eventually get into ancients.
there is a legend about the brigantes from the north of england striking coins, but i have yet to see any, as usual the compilers of the list/map have fallen into the age old trap of believing that celtic britain ended at the midlands even though there were other tribes inhabiting our island including wales, scotland and the north of england. coin wise, there are reports of coinage from those areas, especially cumbria where trade with the other islands and areas of the uk, has been documented from 250 bc onwards also welsh copper ore was shipped all over the known world from the mines at great orme. so really the brigantes and welsh tribes may have well issued coins..............
This is above my pay grade. Celtic in generalities I may know little enough to discuss, but if specifically to UK Celtic I will punt in favor of those like Moneyer12 and others here who have studied such issues more. CHris
if you would like to read the definitive guide to celtic coinage then anything by chris rudd is a must, i know chris as a dealer and have bought most of my celtic collection from him and what he doesn't know about celtic coins isn't worth knowing. http://www.celticcoins.com/
Thanks for everyone's input so far. I'm sure this Atrebatean coin did nothing to allay their neighbors' suspicion that the Atrebates weren't Roman collaborators: Celtic Britain, The Atrebates. Verica. Circa 10-40 AD. AR Unit (1.12 gm). VERICA REX, bull butting right / COMMI F, figure standing left, holding branch, head on standard to right (Picture and attribution from wildwinds.com). Note the Latin inscriptions, especially REX (King) and the Roman-inspired figure on the reverse. Any thoughts? guy
Definitely looks Roman inspired. If you wouldn't have told me its British, I would have guessed Romanized Spain.
