Book Review:::: Ancient British Coins By Chris Rudd

Cassidy, would there be any chance you could look up a coin for me? It is a Sego sphinx bronze unit.

listed as a Catuvellauni design type [not trinovantes}
ABC 2682

This info is all in the ABC Book and is easy to reference

when I get my camera set up I will photgraph it and post it

Did you aquire one? One has been found as recently as july 2012 by metdet in UK [of course!]

cranborne chase gold stater

DUROTRIGES

58-50 BC

The Durotriges were one of the Celtic tribes living in Britain prior to the Roman invasion. The tribe lived in modern Dorset, south Wiltshire, south Somerset and Devon east of the River Axe. After the Roman conquest, their main civitates, or settlement-centred administrative units, were Durnovaria (modern Dorchester, "the probable original capital") and Lindinis (modern Ilchester, "whose former, unknown status was thereby enhanced"[1]). Their territory was bordered to the west by the Dumnonii; and to the east by the Belgae.


Maiden Castle, Dorset was in the territory of the Durotriges
Durotriges were more a tribal confederation than a tribe.[2] They were one of the groups that issued coinage before the Roman conquest, part of the cultural "periphery", as Barry Cunliffe characterised them, round the "core group" of Britons in the south. These coins were rather simple and had no inscriptions, and thus no names of coin-issuers can be known, let alone evidence about monarchs or rulers. Nevertheless, the Durotriges presented a settled society, based in the farming of lands surrounded and controlled by strong hill forts that were still in use in 43 AD. Maiden Castle is a preserved example of one of these hill forts.


The Celtic tribes of Southern Britain showing the Durotriges and their neighbours.
The area of the Durotriges is identified in part by coin finds:[4] few Durotrigan coins are found in the "core" area, where they were apparently unacceptable and were reminted. To their north and east were the Belgae, beyond the Avon and its tributary Wylye: "the ancient division is today reflected in the county division between Wiltshire and Somerset."[5] Their main outlet for the trade across the Channel, strong in the first half of the 1st century BC, when the potter's wheel was introduced, then drying up in the decades before the advent of the Romans, was at Hengistbury Head. Numismatic evidence shows progressive debasing of the coinage, suggesting economic retrenchment accompanying the increased cultural isolation. Analysis of the body of Durotrigan ceramics suggests to Cunliffe that the production was increasingly centralised, at Poole Harbour (Cunliffe 2005:183). Burial of Durotriges was by inhumation, with a last ritual meal provided even under exiguous circumstances, as in the eight burials at Maiden Castle, carried out immediately after the Roman attack.
Not surprisingly, the Durotriges resisted Roman invasion in AD 43, and the historian Suetonius records some fights between the tribe and the second legion Augusta, then commanded by Vespasian. By 70 AD, the tribe was already Romanised and securely included in the Roman province of Britannia. In the tribe's area, the Romans explored some quarries and supported a local pottery industry.

what me cheat?

maybe I could accompany you someday on mt next trip to the uk..id love to go along coin hunting...never done it before!

Thank you for all the information. I think the one you found on the metal detecting forum was the one I bought

@monkeybean.....well I'm glad I passed the test..I also have 2 types of the the "3 men in a boat " acquired through Silbury Coins and Forum coins respectively

it is the Gold 1/4 stater type ..small and thick ABC 2205 Duro Boat Gold listed as Scarce

and I have the silver 1/4 stater which is probably like yours listed as ABC 2217 called Duro Thunderbolt ...very common

by the way your personal finds are remarkable as Celtic coins are very much the small minority of metdet coins found in the UK and many metdets never find one mostly due to the fact they were only produced for 150 years and are found in an exclusive area of the UK called the Celtic coin finding area which is also outlined in the ABC book. and FYI... There is a whole 1/2 page devoted to the Cranborne chase silver stater which enlarges the coin and examines every detail of the design on pg 113..... I believe it is one of the earliest and influential designs of the Celtic Uk coin era. congrats on your finds.....

Of course, I spotted it on ebay as I recognised it from the detecting forum. It cost me £20 overall which I don't think was too bad. I will upload some pictures if you like.

@ coinage 123 if its nice the 20BP seems like a steal....I would love to see this sego sphinx coin

nice coin and definitely a challenge especially without any clues....ABC 2685 Tasciovanus Star has the exact geometric design with the Bull facing right on the reverse..He was the Father of Cunobelinus and this design is also found on ABC 2679 and 2682 which are other Tasc coins and he was perhaps the most prolific producer of coin designs and remains largely a mystery of history...Sego came after him and of course your coin is attributed to Sego..who came before Cunobelinus. It is speculation about who Sego was but he appears to be a ruler of the Cantiaci or Cantii...in Kent but its all theory....this info was taken from the ABC book