Rauceby hoard - Constantine's first coin

This is probably my favorite acquisition of 2021. It's been a long time holy grail for me - the first coin type issued by Constantine I after being acclaimed emperor at Ebacorum in Brittania, 306 AD.



Obv: CONSTANTINVS NOBILI C
Rev: GENIO POPVLI ROMANI
Ref: RIC VI London 66
Date: 306 AD
Size: 28.1mm 11.3g

This is a satisfyingly large heavy coin, from the prevailing 1/32 lb standard before that was quickly reduced to 1/40lb. The reverse features the genius of the roman people, in his clamys-over-the-shoulder depiction before he was covered up the the next issue. As appropriate to the Christmas season, he's sporting a modius which looks rather more like something one of Santa's helpers would be wearing!

What make the coin special to me isn't just that I've wanted it for a long time, but the origin of the coin. Until four years ago this coin had been sitting untouched in a pot hoard where it had been buried in roman Britain in 307 AD.



The coin comes from what has been named the "Rauceby hoard", which was found by metal detectorists just outside of the roman town of Ancaster, UK in July 2017. The hoard was reported under the UK's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) and sent to the British Museum. In 2019 the hoard was declared as Treasure Trove and only then reported by the press when it was declared as the largest hoard of it's type to have been found in the UK.

The hoard consisted of 3,099 tetrarchic nummi dating from 294 to 307 AD, many in near mint-state condition. The latest dated coins in the hoard were of Constantine as caesar (none as augustus) dating to 307 AD, including a Constantine PRINCIPI IVVENTVTIS and a rare ROMAE AETER coin of Maximianus.

The majority of the coins were from Gaul (875 London, 1459 Trier, 468 Lyons), Italy (226), Carthage (24) and a small number from eastern mints. 19 unofficial.

Since the hoard was declared Treasure Trove the British Museum got first pick, and chose to keep 375 coins, which the finders were paid for. The remaining coins were finally returned to the two finders earlier this year, to be split between them (700 each) and the landowner (1400). One of the finders, Rob Jones, has been cleaning his portion and has started to sell them on eBay, which is how I was able to obtain this coin.

I've been in touch with Rob, as well as the PAS Finds Liason Officer (FLO) who handled the discovery, in order to get a bit more of the back story of the hoard, as well as some photos of the discovery and subsequent PAS excavation.

Rob had been actively searching for the hoard for three years before finding it in 2017. He'd previously found a couple of great condition tetrarchic coins, and suspected there would be more, then from 2014-2017 found another ~8 similar coins in the plough zone, before finally discovering the pot hoard in July 2017.

Here are some photos that Rob kindly sent me of the discovery. From the subsequent PAS excavation it seems there had been a limestone sheet covering the pot, but here is the pot as it first emerged.

The coins were in remarkable condition, loose rather than fused together, and with only minimal surface deposits. The coins were removed from the pot, which was left in-situ, and reported to the PAS, who asked that the pot/hole be filled in for later excavation.









In the meantime the finders (with PAS approval) rinsed the coins in distilled water, before eventually delivering them to the British Museum a few months later. I was able to find a YouTube video of the coins sitting in water at this time, and you can see the remarkable condition they were in straight out of the ground.



Here's a photo (copyright British Museum) of the coins subsequently being examined at the museum.



In the meantime the FLO organized an excavation of the find spot, which took place a couple of weeks after the discovery. The hoard is unusual in that it was evidentially buried with a very high degree of care. An oval pit had been dug, lined with quarried limestone, then the pot placed in and packed in with additional limestone. There appears to have been a limestone sheet (roof tile?) with a central hole that had been covering the pot. During the excavation a small group of 10 radiate coins were discovered within the area of limestone packing (perhaps as an offering during burial?). This unusual circumstance has lead the PAS to suggest it may have been a votive offering rather than what might be a more hasty/clandestine burial of a savings hoard.

These excavation photos are copyright Lincolnshire County Council.






While the hoard has officially been named the Rauceby hoard, the discovery spot was less than a mile from the roman town of Ancaster (which is a couple of miles from Rauceby). As shown on the map above, Ancaster is located on "Ermine Street" about 20 miles south of Lindum Colonia (modern Lincoln). Ermine Street, who's original roman name is lost, was the major road north out of Londinium, running up through Ancaster and Lindum all the way to Ebacorum (York).

Given that this is the major route north, it's interesting to think of events since Constantine was acclaimed in Ebacorum in July 306 AD. Spreading the news of the new emperor must have happened pretty much immediately, and Constantine would have wanted to send news to the rest of Gaul ASAP. We also know that he notified Galerius (resident in the east) to get his begrudging semi-approval. Presumably the imperial messenger must have taken "Ermine Street" south to London, and beyond, to deliver the news.

It also seems that new emperors put a perhaps surprisingly high priority on issuing coins as a way to declare they were in control, so it seems likely that the messenger spreading the news may well have delivered instructions to the mint in Londinium at the same time. Whether or not there was a slight delay, it seems these first London coins of Constantine must have been issued in 306 AD, likely very shortly after July.

Once coins had been made they needed to be distributed, and it seems they may well have traveled back up this same north road to the major cities such as Lindum and Ebacorum, although it's possible they could also have traveled by boat if there were any suitable inland waterways.

It's obviously impossible to know the reasons for this specific hoard being deposited. The elaborate limestone packing certainly indicates a degree of organization, but given that no-one returned to claim the hoard it still seems it may have been an individual rather than a community offering (which anyways seems a bit of an odd concept - such a large amount of cash as an offering). Perhaps the circumstance was related to Constantine's recent elevation and partnership with Maximianus - a solider going back to serve in Gaul, perhaps.

In any case, I'm very happy with this coin. It hardly ever comes up for sale, and is absent from most museum collections too. Vienna has a poor specimen which they uncharacteristically have on their web site, perhaps due to an ex. Voetter provenance. I'm probably very fortunate that the British museum already have a few good specimens and therefore returned this one to the finder, although they did keep a few other similar coins.

Please show any early coins of Constantine, or anything related!

 

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WOW, what a fantastic acquisition! To-the-ground provenance, early issue, and a remarkable portrait-- he looks like a human being instead of a cartoon! Absolutely fantastic acquisition.

 

Thanks, TIF !

 

An amazing coin. That would be a holy grail for me as well. Rob wouldn’t happen to have another one hiding in his couch cushions would he?

And that portrait! Were the die engravers just putting together some composite of the tetrarchs? Had they even seen Constantine’s face?

Most wonderful.

 

Thanks, Gavin.

I did ask Rob about what else he had from Constantine, but apparently the BM chose to keep most of the Constantine's (as well as the Maximianus ROMAE AETER).

It's an interesting bust for sure. It doesn't look like his father Constantius, so perhaps it was an initial attempt at copying some official likeness they had received?

 

Honestly, it doesn’t look like any Tetrarchic bust I’ve ever seen. Which is why I find it so enigmatic.

 

Wow, what a fabulous coin, congrats!! Super envious. (I think you got it for a good price too!)

It appears to be Cloke & Toone (LMCC) 4.04.009(R), but their illustration shows a portrait style more like what we're used to seeing for Constantine. They do show a couple of coins (4.04.006 and 4.04.007, different obverse legends) with portraits somewhat similar to yours. It seems like an adapted Constantius portrait to me... which makes me think these (yours included) are among the very first of the very first for Constantine, before the mint had a good model to work from.

Here is my most special London mint coin, a first issue LON mintmark:

 

Thanks!

Unfortunately you can ignore the eBay "sold" price, since it sold via "make an offer" which is not recorded.

The square jaw on mine does seem like a carry-over from the earlier coinage, such as on your nice LON coin!

 

I think that this is one of those situations where the provenance is as interesting and valuable as the coin itself. Congratulations!

 

Thanks, seth !

I agree - such a close connection to the history, especially such an early deposit date, really brings it to life!

 

I got a Rauceby hoard coin also, not as neat as the Constantine, but it is from Carthage.



Diocletian
A.D. 297
26mm 9.1g
IMP DIOCLETIANVS P F AVG; laureate head right.
FELIX ADVENT AVGG NN; Africa standing left, holding labarum and tusk; at feet, lion with captured bull, in left field A
in ex. PKP
RIC VI Carthage 21a

 

Very nice! It'd be fascinating to know the individual histories of some of these coins... How did a coin made in Carthage end up in Britannia 10 years later ?! That one also seems to have hardly seen any circulation.

 

Heliodromus, thanks for the wonderful numismatic walkabout tour. Glad you were able to secure one for yourself.

 

@Heliodromus, thanks for the excellent write-up on this hoard. The portrait style of your Constantine Nummus is very unusual and remarkably realistic. It's a great coin.

 

Fascinating, thanks for sharing. I'm not going to lie, I'd love to get my hands on those!

307-308

RIC VI 781
8.11g, 25mm

308-309

RIC VI Lugdunum 287
6.10g, 26mm

My random picture sizing throws it off but it's the incredible shrinking follis!

 

Thanks @Black Friar and @Fugio1 ! I appreciate the positive comments!

I was glad to be able to put together this write-up to do a little justice to the hoard.

I've been told by the FLO that there's a book on tetrarchic hoards in preparation (by the British Museum, I believe) that should be published next year that will include a chapter on the Rauceby hoard, and there's also a much smaller "Rauceby B" hoard of loose finds from the same site currently in the hands of the British Museum.

 

Yes, although as avid collectors perhaps it's best we don't! Could you imagine the temptation of finding something like this and having to hand it all over to the authorities?

Indeed. Those nice coins are still of respectable size/weights, but by the time we get to the end of Constantine's rule it's not looking so good!

 

That's an excellent coin with a wonderful story behind it, from striking to burial to discovery. Congrats!

 

Really neat! I like that provenance a lot more than the usual “ex. Old Rich Guy collection, 1933”.

 

That is a truly fantastic coin and one to be envious of.

I have a couple of coins from the same Rauceby hoard that I have shared here before. Nothing particularly scarce or interesting but I particularly like the portrait of my M II D.

Severus II

Maximinus II Daia