Silver unit of the Catuvellauni and Trinovantes

A couple of years back a friend of Stephen Palmer found an Ancient British silver unit whilst out walking with his dog. At the time my valuation on the dog-walker’s find was £300. The finder now wishes to sell the coin and Stephen wants to buy it, so he asked what figure would be a fair price to pay for it.

The coin in question is a silver unit of the Catuvellauni and Trinovantes. On the obverse is a bust facing right with CVNO behind and BELINVS in front. On the reverse is the winged figure of Victory standing on a globe with TAS behind and CIIOV in front. In Ancient British Coins this unit is listed as the Cunobelinus Winged Victory type (number 2882) and in the Standard Catalogue it is number 316.

The dies used to strike Ancient British coins vary a great deal in their quality. Some are quite crude whilst others – like the pair used to strike this coin – are of the highest quality. This unit is very similar to some Roman silver coins and it is probable that the maker of the dies had been inspired by the sight coins made within the Roman Empire rather than in Britain.

Valuation

A small minus point is that the reverse has been struck slightly off centre but the coin is otherwise in VF condition with good eye appeal and it is very rare. There has been no significant upward or downward shift in the price of Ancient British coins over the past couple of years so my valuation figure on this coin of £300 remains unchanged.

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