Potin of the Cantiaci

Roger Paul said the find pictured here is only the third potin coin he has found during many years as a detectorist. It is listed in Ancient British Coins as number 171 (Nipples type) under the Cantiaci and in the Standard Catalogue it is number 64.

A number of types and varieties of potin units are presently on record. All were cast in strips and then broken up into individual coins.  This is why they are irregularly shaped.

Whether or not you find any potin coins depends on where you search. In the south-east you would be far more likely to locate examples than anywhere else. On the other hand, you could search Yorkshire for decades and never find one.

Valuation

ABC lists number 171 as very common. It might be common but Roger’s find is a nice example so my minimum valuation figure would be £60.

Should you ever dig up two or more that are still joined together then do not break them apart. I once heard of a detectorist who unearthed a group of about 8 coins, all still joined together. Thinking it was the best thing to do, he broke up the group into 8 separate coins. Only later did he find out that had he left them in their ‘as found’ state then they would have been worth a figure more than ten times higher than the one he received for eight individual specimens.

Valuation Service

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