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

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

Corn ear (barley) without central stalk, with three or (rarely) four pairs of grains, bristles from top rows, stalk springs from a single curl to the right of the base. Inscription (CA MV) either side.

Regular horse prancing right, widely-spaced front legs, spiky mane, feathered tail, often small head on thick neck. Branch above. Inscription (CVNO) below.

Minted at Camulodunum, modern-day Colchester, United Kingdom

Scarce

ABC 2813; 11mm, 1.30g

Evans: IX.13 (1864, p. 303, pl. IX).
Evans: XXII.7 (1890, p. 564, pl. XXII).

Van Arsdell Classification: Trinovantian V, Coinage of Cunobeline, Restoration Period (Heavy Staters), Wild Type Gold Coins.

Sills Wild B (7 obverse, 12 reverse dies): North Thames Coinage; Type: Cunobelinus; Quarter Staters: Class 5 – Wild B. Associated with the Wild B stater (ABC 2783).
Sills DK 584: Three pairs of grains. CVNO on exergual line.

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).

Styled as son of Tasciovanus on some of his coins, Cunobelin appears to have ruled over the unified territories of the Trinovantes and Catuvellauni, with additional territory in Kent. It has been estimated from a study of known dies that around one million of his gold corn ear staters were produced (although most will have been melted down for proceeding coinage) and his main centre and mint was at Camulodunum (Colchester).

Provenance

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

M Vosper PT Nov 1996. Spink COE 2026 plate coin (290) VA 2015 var.

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.