Cantiaci

 ‘Of all the Britons the inhabitants of Kent, an entirely maritime district, are by far the most civilised, differing but little from the Gallic manner of life.’

Caesar, De Bello Gallico, book V, chapter 13.

The modern county of Kent was, according to the Romans, the homeland of the Cantiaci or Cantii. The closest portion of mainland Britain to the Continent, it is unsurprising that in the Late Iron Age the region boasted strong links with north-east France – a legacy maintained to this day, one could argue, with the continued importance of Dover and Folkestone as key cross-channel ferry ports.

Kent’s earliest Iron Age coins (and indeed, probably the earliest indigenously-produced British coins) are represented by cast bronze pieces called potins, whose alloy has a high tin content. On the basis of single finds and hoards, we know that imported gold in the form of Gallo-Belgic coinage was widely used in Kent at around the same time as the potins.

The somewhat mysterious series of uninscribed Kentish gold, including the so-called ‘Weald Net’ staters (ABC 177/BMC 2466) and ‘Corded Triangle’ quarter staters (ABC 198/BMC 2469–71) were probably struck c. 50–30/25 BC, they perhaps slightly precede a diverse group of uninscribed silver and bronze issues.

Inscribed issues belong towards the end of the Kentish coin-sequence, as is invariably the general case in Late Iron Age Britain. Their production probably began from c. 25 BC onwards and runs onward till shortly before the Claudian invasion. It is worth noting that at this time, Kent seems to have been taken over to varying extents by rulers from neighbouring regions. These rulers in turn came to issue coins in the region, even though they themselves might not originate from it, nor it reflect their main power-base.