Ancient British Silver Unit – Catuvellauni and Trinovantes

The website has been up for not much longer that two months but I’ve already featured several Ancient British gold staters. Here’s another Ancient British coin but this one is a silver unit, which is 1.26 grams in weight and the diameter is 13.8mm. It was found by Andrew Thompson, who is fortunate enough to detect in areas that were occupied by our ancestors before the Roman invasion of AD 43.

Andrew’s find is a coin of the Catuvellauni and Trinovantes, with a star above and below two panels on the obverse – the top one containing CVNO and the bottom one with BELI. On the reverse is a horse and rider facing right with CVN below. In Ancient British Coins this is listed as the Cunobelinus Horseman type (number 2858) and in the Standard Catalogue it is number 302.

Valuation

The type is very rare but what grade of preservation would I put on this silver unit? Well, there is what looks like a die fault on the rump of the horse, the reverse has been struck well off centre and there is a tiny chip to the edge of the flan. This might sound as if I am being ‘picky’ but these are negative factors, which would be pointed out by some prospective buyers. On the plus side, the type is very rare. In its present state of preservation I’d place upon this silver unit a price range of £180-200.

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