Claudius AD 41-54 Silver Plated Denarius

Claudius AD 41-54 Silver Plated Denarius

De Britanni triumphal arch

18mm, 2.52g

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One of the finest examples from the Waverley valley hoard, selected and kept back as such by the finder but then released for sale.

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 1997, ex Waveney Valley Hoard, S469

Part of the famous Waverley valley hoard found in 1996. 110 plated denarii to Claudius I were found in three main groups, spread over a considerable area, and at depths of up to 3 feet. No pottery or artefacts were associated with the coins. All of the coins are plated copies of Claudian denarii, with the exception of two copies of Augustus and Tiberius denarii. The British Museum has acquired 28 coins. A further 62 plated denarii were discovered in 1996 with the aid of a metal detector, on the same site, in a field near the village of Wortham, about 3 miles south-west of Diss.

This coin comes with a previous label.

 

Tiberius Claudius Drusus was born in Lugdunum on the same day that Augustus dedicated the Great Altar of Lugdunum in 10 BC. The younger son of Nero Claudius Drusus, brother of Tiberius, and Antonia who was the daughter of Mark Antony.
He was seriously ill as a child and as a result suffered some form of paralysis. Despite his uncouth manner he was a surprisingly good horseman. Claudius was also intelligent and devoted himself to scholarship authoring histories on Carthage and Etruria. Upon the assassination of Caligula he was proclaimed emperor. Claudius proved himself to be a competent ruler and added to the empire through the invasion and partial conquest of Britain in AD 43.
His martial affairs were turbulent and he was responsible for the execution of his third wife Valeria Messallina. He then married Agrippina Junior adopting her son Nero as heir in preference to his own son Britannicus who was later murdered.
Claudius died in AD 54 allegedly from a surfeit of mushrooms although it is thought that these had been poisoned by his wife Agrippina ensuring that the succession went to her son Nero.