Ancient British Silver Unit – Cunobelinus Winged Victory type

This is the first find from a small group sent in by Robin Dones on behalf of his brother. It looks somewhat like a Roman denarius but it isn’t.

On the obverse is a bust facing right, with CVNO behind and BELINVS in front. The lettering reads anti-clockwise. On the reverse is the winged figure of Victory, with TAS behind and CIIOV in front. Victory is striding to the right over a globe.

It might look somewhat like a denarius and the inspiration for the design probably originated from a Roman coin but this is actually an Ancient British silver unit. In Ancient British Coins it is listed as the Cunobelinus Winged Victory type (number 2882) and in the Standard Catalogue it falls under the Catuvellauni as number 316.

Valuation

The obverse is nearly VF but on the reverse the figure of Victory and the legend are both weak. It’s a very rare type so even with the weak reverse it could still be worth around £150 to a collector.