Catuvellauni and Trinovantes Cunobelinus c. AD 8-40 C. Linear Gold Stater *ABC front cover coin*

Catuvellauni and Trinovantes Cunobelinus c. AD 8-40 C. Linear Gold Stater

Scarce

ABC 2774 (front & back cover, plate coin), VA1925-5, 17mm, 5.49g

The authors of ABC obviously felt that this coin summed up the ancient British series and was worthy of the front cover of their splendid book, we agree. Beautifully struck on a large, round flan, all detail crisp and much appeal without any negative points, exceptional as such.

Estimate £4,000-£5,000

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Obverse – corn ear with clearly-defined central stalk with a double-arc base. CA MV inscription to left and right. Cross in left field.

Unabbreviated legend – Camulodunon, modern-day Colchester, United Kingdom

Reverse – horse prancing right, with ladder mane. Branch above with pellet above and below. CVN inscription below.

Unabbreviated legend – Cunobelin.

Evans: IX.8 (1864, p. 300, pl. IX).

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 54, no 75 (2000). Found Mildenhall, Wiltshire Feb 1998. ABC Plate & Covers coin. COE plate coin 2026.

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.

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