Catuvellauni & Trinovantes Cunobelinus c. AD 8-40 Wild Type Gold Stater *Scarce*

Catuvellauni & Trinovantes Cunobelinus c. AD 8-40 Wild Type Gold Stater

Corn ear (barley) with five pairs of grains either side of a central stalk that springs from a single short arc on one side of the base. Inscription (CA MV) to left and right.

Untamed-looking stallion right, spiky mane, feathered tail, sharp dog-leg joint in second leg, rearing up from an exergual line. Branch above. Inscription (CVNO) below.

Minted at Camulodunum, modern-day Colchester, United Kingdom

Scarce

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ABC 2777; 19mm, 5.43g

Van Arsdell Classification: Trinovantian V, Coinage of Cunobeline, Restoration Period (Heavy Staters), Wild Type Gold Coins. VA 1931 – 01: Central stalk.

Sills Wild A, Central Stalk (3 obverse, 10 reverse dies): North Thames Coinage; Type: Cunobelinus; Staters: Class 3a – Wild A, Central Stalk. The dies are recut, with the second obverse die becoming a fourth. Allen described the horse as ‘savage and untamed’ (wild).
Sills DK 552: Plain reverse with only the branch as decoration.

The equivalent quarter is Wild A Angled Leg (Sills DK 576).

Sills chronology: Gallo-Belgic Ca – British G (Early Clacton) / Aa Westerham – British La (Whaddon Chase) – British Lb (Westbury) – Addedomaros – Dubnovellaunos – Tasciovanos – Cunobelinus (Biga – Linear – Wild – Plastic – Classic).

Provenance

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

C Rudd FPL 135, no 38. Found Mildenhall, Wiltshire Feb 1998. CCI 98.1257 VA 1931-1

This coin comes with a previous label.

 

Cunobelin (c. AD 10–40)

Shakespeare’s Cymbeline, based on his extensive bronze coinage Cunobelin appears to have been a son of Tasciovanos – where he is often styled ‘CVNOBELINI TASCIOVANI F’ (Cunobelin, Son of Tasciovanos). Writing in the early 1st century AD, the Roman historian Suetonius erroneously refers to Cunobelin as ‘Brittanorum Rex’ – King of the Britons. While this may exaggerate his power and influence somewhat, it is evident that he was viewed by the Romans as a key figure within the region. He was potentially sponsored or endorsed in some way by Rome’s first emperor, Augustus. Indeed, like Verica, many of his coins (especially those of silver and bronze) show high levels of classical influence.

As a ruler in his own right, Cunobelin’s first act seems to have been to finish the task begun by his father, definitively exerting control over both Camulodunon and the Trinovantian territory surrounding it. Numismatic evidence for this can be found in the prolific quantities of gold staters and quarter-staters he struck at the settlement, which depict a corn-ear flanked by the inscription ‘CAMV’. Having solidified his holdings north of the Thames, it seems that Cunobelin extended his influence into Kent. Indeed, many of his coins are found there, as are those of his probable son – Adminius (Amminus). The subsequent power vacuum caused by his death in AD 40, followed by a brief period of instability which seems to have manifested across much of eastern and southern Britain, would be quickly filled following the Claudian invasion of AD 43 – an event which changed Britain forever.