Catuvellauni and Trinovantes Cunobelinus c. AD 8-40 C. Leaping Griffin Silver Unit *Excessively Rare*

Catuvellauni and Trinovantes Cunobelinus c. AD 8-40 C. Leaping Griffin Silver Unit

Excessively rare, 5 known.

ABC 2909, 14x11mm, 1.28g

Obverse

Laureate bust right. CVNOBEL-IINVS inscription either side. Pellet border.

Reverse

Griffin springing left. Pellet triad behind wing. CAMV inscription on exergual line. Pellet border.

 

Mint

CAMV	Camulodunum, modern-day Colchester, United Kingdom

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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 FPL 128, no 15, Winter 2005. De Jersey type F5

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.