Ancient British silver unit, Lyre Player type

The find illustrated here was sent in by a detectorist who asked to remain anonymous. It’s an Ancient British silver unit, which was unearthed on 19 September. The finder said he was amazed when it turned up, for it was only his second ever silver unit but the same as one he had found in August of 2020 on a site 20 miles away! This is another of those strange coincidences that crop up quite often in this hobby.

On the obverse is a right-facing bust with TASC behind and IIOVANII in front. On the reverse is a seated lyre player with CVNOBELI in front.

In Ancient British Coins this silver unit is listed as very rare under the Catuvellauni and Trinovantes as the Conobelinus Lyre Player type (number 2867). In the Standard Catalogue it is number 314 under the Catuvellauni.

Valuation

The surface on the obverse looks to be slightly rough but this side is otherwise in VF condition.  On the reverse the figure is weak but the remainder is about VF. To a collector this silver unit should be worth around £250.