File:Iron Age and Roman coins (FindID 555965).jpg

English: Circumstances of Discovery

A chance discovery of four silver coins was made in the Derbyshire Dales on 9 March 2013. An excavation around the findspot in October 2013 produced a further 22 coins (including gold, silver and base metal types) as well as a number of base metal and non-metal objects.

The Coins

The coin assemblage consisted of twenty-six coins. Three are Roman Republican coins, struck in 118, 104 and 46 BC respectively. Despite the early date of these coins, there is no particular reason to assume that they arrived in Britain before the Roman invasion in AD 43, as old Republican coins would have dominated the circulating Roman coinage in the AD 40s/50s.

Twenty are Iron Age coins, made in Britain before and during the Conquest period. More specifically, they are inscribed 'North Eastern' regional types, produced in an area centred on the modern counties of Lincolnshire and Leicestershire, in about AD 20/30-50. North Eastern style coins are often attributed to the Corieltavi tribe, who are known to have inhabited the East Midlands region during the Roman period and perhaps before. The findspot lies considerably beyond the western limit of the main circulation area of North Eastern coinage, as reconstructed from recorded findspots. It should be noted, however, that a number of hoards and assemblages of late inscribed North Eastern coinage have been found beyond the apparent limits of their circulation, including in the parishes of Silsden and Lightcliffe (both Yorkshire).

The combination of Roman Republican and inscribed North Eastern Iron Age coins is not unusual. A notable find of around 5,000 similar Roman and Iron Age coins was made at Hallaton in Leicestershire in 2000.

The remaining three coins are considerably later in date. Two are Roman, struck in AD 271-74 and AD 330-35 respectively; the other is a medieval imitation penny of the later 13th century.

Catalogue

Roman Republic

1.Plated denarius (imitation) of L Pomponius, Mint of Narbo, 118 BC. RRC 282/4 (weight: 2.49g). The reverse inscription (in the exergue) appears to read VIIC PN CIOM rather than L LIC CN DOM. The carnyx in the design has also been incorrectly rendered by the engraver.

2.Silver denarius of C Coelius Caldus, Mint of Rome, 104 BC. (?)N. Control-mark above biga. RRC 318/1a (weight: 3.42g)

3.Silver denarius of Mn Cordius Rufus, Mint of Rome, 46 BC, RRC 463/1 (weight: 3.74g)

Iron Age: Gold

4.North Eastern gold stater, inscribed VEP CORF, ABC 1854 (weight: 5.52g; diameter: 20.8mm)

5.North Eastern gold stater, inscribed [I]ISVPR[A]SV, ABC 1917 (weight: 5.23g; diameter: 18.2mm)

6.North Eastern gold stater, inscribed IISVP[RASV], ABC 1917 (weight: 5.50g; diameter: 18.5mm)

7.North Eastern debased gold/copper-alloy stater, inscribed IISV[PRASV], ABC 1917 (weight: 4.58g; diameter: 20.7mm)

8.North Eastern debased gold/copper-alloy stater, inscribed IISV[PRASV], ABC 1917 (weight: 4.68g; diameter: 19.3mm)

9.Fragmentary North Eastern debased gold/copper-allot stater, probably inscribed [IISVP]RA[SV]. If this identification is correct, the legend spacing is IISVP-RASV rather than the common IISVP-R-ASV. For examples of this type see Hallaton Hoard cat nos. 1279, 1434 and perhaps 555. Note also - it is possible that there was part of another debased stater originally adhered to this coin.

Iron Age: Silver

10.North Eastern silver unit, inscribed [A]VN [COST], ABC 1938 (weight: 1.13g; diameter: 14.6mm)

11.North Eastern silver unit, inscribed [A]VN [COST], ABC 1938 (weight: 1.22g; diameter: 15.3mm)

12.North Eastern silver unit, inscribed [AV]N [COST], ABC 1938 (weight: 1.35g; diameter: 15.3mm)

13.North Eastern silver unit, inscribed [AV]N [COST], ABC 1938 (weight: 1.13g; diameter: 15.5mm)

14.North Eastern silver unit, inscribed AVN [COST], ABC 1938 (weight: 1.11g; diameter: 15.4mm)

15.North Eastern silver unit, inscribed [V]EPO CORF, ABC 1875 (weight: 1.19g; diameter: 15.4mm)

16.North Eastern silver unit, inscribed VEP [CORF], ABC 1881 (weight: 1.33g; diameter: 15.0mm)

17.North Eastern silver unit, inscribed VEP [CORF], ABC 1881 (weight: 1.30g; diameter: 14.8mm)

18.North Eastern silver unit, inscribed VEP CO[RF], ABC 1881 (weight: 1.29g; diameter: 15.2mm)

19.North Eastern silver unit, inscribed VEP C[ORF], ABC 1881 variant. Retrograde VEP lettering. See Hallaton Hoard cat nos. 763, 1135, 1473, 3917. (weight: 1.35g; diameter: 15.4mm)

20.North Eastern silver half unit, inscribed VEP [CORF], probably ABC 1887 (weight: 0.48g; diameter: 12.7mm)

21.North Eastern silver half unit, inscribed VEP [CORF], probably ABC 1902 (weight: 0.49g; diameter: 12.7mm)

22.North Eastern silver half unit, inscribed VEP [CORF], probably ABC 1902 (weight: 0.47g; diameter: 11.4mm)

23.North Eastern silver unit, inscribed [IISVP]RA[SV], ABC 1920 (weight: 1.04g; diameter: 16.1mm)

Later coins

24.Roman copper-alloy radiate, Tetricus I, probably Hilaritas Augg type, Mint I, Normanby Hoard 1489. (weight: 2.43g)

25.Roman copper-alloy nummus, Urbs Roma/Wolf and twins type, TRS. Mintmark (Trier), AD 330-35, LRBC 58. (weight: 2.52g)

26.Counterfeit copper-alloy long-cross penny, based on Henry III, cf. Class V, 1250s/60s. (weight: 1.23g)

Objects

Roman 'Aesica' type brooch, hinged type (pin missing), with central rib and fantail foot which is decorated with incised grooves which form a 'V' shape. Date: c. mid-first century AD. The brooch has strong parallels with Mackreth 2011, 6109 and 6125 (plate 29; for a discussion of the type, see p. 47). (Weight: 11.61g; length: 41.5mm; width at head: 27mm). Identification: Richard Hobbs (Department of Britain, Europe and Prehistory) [E2 SF 40]

2.Post-medieval/modern brooch/slide fitting (length: 44.9mm)

3.Probable post-medieval/modern silvered base-metal donkey charm (length: 19.5mm)

4.Modern teardrop-shaped bead, probably plastic with mother-of-pearl effect (length: 11.7mm)

5.Undiagnostic stud or nail (weight 0.61g)

6.Undiagnostic lead or leaded copper-alloy fragmentary object. Flat with folded lip on one edge and circular cuff

7.Undiagnostic fragment of metal or perhaps coin fragment

References

Bland, R. & Burnett, A. 1988. The Normanby Hoard and other Roman Coin Hoards. Coin Hoards from Roman Britain VIII (London)

Carson, R.A.G., Hill, P.V., & Kent, J.P.C. 1960. Late Roman Bronze Coinage (London)

Cottam, E., De Jersey, P., Rudd, C. & Sills, J. 2010. Ancient British Coinage (Aylsham)

Leins, I. 2011. 'The Coins', in Score, V. (ed.) Hoards, Hounds and Helmets. A Conquest-Period Ritual Site at Hallaton, Leicestershire, Leicester Archaeology Monograph 21 (Leicester)

Mackreth, D.F. 2011. Brooches in late Iron Age and Roman Britain (2 volumes), Oxbow (Oxford)

Discussion

Coins 1-23, listed above, form a convincing hoard group. It is not unusual to find mixed hoards consisting of Roman Republican and early Imperial coins (struck before AD 64) and broadly contemporary insular Iron Age coins. The composition of this group - being dominated by late inscribed North Eastern coins - finds a parallel in the much larger coin assemblage discovered in 2000 at Hallaton in Leicestershire.

The remaining coins, nos. 24-26, are noticeably later and would not have circulated at the same time as the other coins. They are best seen as later losses/deliberate deposits.

Brooches are often buried together with coins and object no. 1 is broadly contemporary with the Iron Age coins. 'Aesica' type brooches are often dated to the middle decades of the first century AD and, thus, may have been deposited at the same time as the coins in the period c. AD 50/60.

The other objects (nos. 2-7) are all either of uncertain or post-medieval/modern date. There is no reason, therefore, to directly associate their loss/deposition with that of the earlier Iron Age and Roman material.

The presence of the later material (coins 24-26; objects 2-7) may indicate that the site has been a significant location in the landscape over a period of at least two millennia. The nature of the site would certainly support such a conclusion. Despite this, the limited number and chronological diversity of this material suggests that there is no direct association with the Iron Age and Roman finds.