Iron Age Coin Find in Britain

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ficino
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Joined: Fri Oct 25, 2013 6:15 pm

Iron Age Coin Find in Britain

Post by ficino »

Archeologists found 26 ancient gold and silver coins in a cave in central England. The ancient inhabitants had belonged to the Corieltauvi tribe. The coins range considerably in age. Age range is often an important feature to keep in mind when drawing conclusions about a site from the coins found there, since in this instance, it is clear that the small hoard was carried into the cave for hiding--but it doesn't follow that the cave was inhabited since the time of the oldest coin. The coins consisted of 20 Iron Age coins, three Roman coins (predating the invasion) and three coins from later eras.


http://news.yahoo.com/ancient-coins-fou ... 41856.html
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Blood
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Re: Iron Age Coin Find in Britain

Post by Blood »

The monetary value today of the coins discovered is around two thousand pounds (about $3,400 USD).
That doesn't sound like much. Are Iron Age coins from Britain not rare?
“The only sensible response to fragmented, slowly but randomly accruing evidence is radical open-mindedness. A single, simple explanation for a historical event is generally a failure of imagination, not a triumph of induction.” William H.C. Propp
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DCHindley
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Re: Iron Age Coin Find in Britain

Post by DCHindley »

ficino,

Aren't gold coins exceedingly rare in Britain, except for Roman gold coins of later periods (I think ca 300 CE and later)? Which of the 20 iron age coins (more correctly, a form of bullion), or the three Roman coins, or three "later" coins (how much later?), where silver and which were gold? Inquiring minds want to know!

DCH
ficino wrote:Archeologists found 26 ancient gold and silver coins in a cave in central England. The ancient inhabitants had belonged to the Corieltauvi tribe. The coins range considerably in age. Age range is often an important feature to keep in mind when drawing conclusions about a site from the coins found there, since in this instance, it is clear that the small hoard was carried into the cave for hiding--but it doesn't follow that the cave was inhabited since the time of the oldest coin. The coins consisted of 20 Iron Age coins, three Roman coins (predating the invasion) and three coins from later eras.

http://news.yahoo.com/ancient-coins-fou ... 41856.html
ficino
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Joined: Fri Oct 25, 2013 6:15 pm

Re: Iron Age Coin Find in Britain

Post by ficino »

David, all I know is what was in the news report I linked from Yahoo. Here is a slightly longer report from the BBC:

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-derbyshire-28189287

All 26 coins in this find are said to be silver or gold. I don't know what is meant by "Iron Age coins." I gather they are metal tokens produced before the Roman conquest or perhaps by native Britons after the conquest but not under Roman authority. Not being a numismatist, this is all I know!

So many subdisciplines, so little time. Sigh.
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