Cantiaci Amminus c. AD 30-40 Hippocamp Silver Unit *Extremely Rare*

Cantiaci Amminus c. AD 30-40 Hippocamp Silver Unit

A inside circle within wreath/Hippocamp right with S above, AMI below

Extremely Rare

ABC462; 12mm, 1.00g

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an attractive coin, dark tone, good detail and pleasing surfaces.

Provenance

This coin is from The London Collection of Ancient British Coins. For more information click here: The London Collection – Silbury Coins : Silbury Coins

G Cottam Collection 2015, M Vosper 1994, found Marks Tay, Essex VA 194 var.

This coin comes with a previous label.

 

Amminus (AD 30–40?)

Striking coins towards the end of the Kentish sequence, Amminus can probably be equated with the ‘Adminius’ noted by the historian Suetonius. A probable son of Cunobelin, he seems to have fled Britain to seek refuge in Rome just a few years before the Claudian invasion. His coins, struck only in silver and bronze, have notable similarities (appropriately) with those of his father. Heavily influenced by classical imagery from the Roman world, it is interesting to note that several of Amminus’ coins depict the hippocamp – a mythological creature perhaps taken as some sort of personal emblem or badge. One particular type, the so-called ‘Amminus Biga’ (ABC 459), has a highly innovative design reminiscent of reverse types used by the Roman emperor Probus during the later 3rd century AD. Here, a two-horse chariot (biga) is depicted as if charging directly at the viewer head-on, a remarkable use of artistic perspective. The presence of the inscriptions ‘DVN’ or ‘DVNO’ on two different types (one silver, the other bronze), has led some to speculate that this might relate to a mint place, although precisely where remains uncertain.