Ancient British Coins. Chris Rudd. et alii. xi + 243pp, 187 illus and 131pp of coin illus. Chris Rudd, Aylsham, 2010. Hardback, £75, inc. p&p.
The last 50 years have seen not only an incredible increase in the number of ancient British coins found (mainly by metal detectorists), but also an upsurge in interest and the study of them. By one of those curious foibles in numismatics, ancient British coins come under the heading of Greek coins simply because they are not Roman. Note also that we now speak of Ancient British Coins, rather than the catch-all and now generally discarded description as Celtic.
It was Sir John Evans who, in 1849, with his papers in the Numismatic Chronicle and his book The Coins of the Ancient Britons (1864, Supplement. 1890) demonstrated the derivation of many of the early British coins from the gold staters of Philip II of Macedon (359-336 BC), with their Apollo head obverse and racing charioteer reverse. This original design was copied by the Iron Age tribes across Europe, ending up with the British copies being hardly recognisable from the original coin were it not for the knowledge of the in-between stages that Evans had pointed out. Earlier British antiquaries such as William Camden (1551-1623) had scarcely acknowledged the coins and shown little interest in them. It was left to Derek Allen’s seminal paper ‘The origins of coinage in Britain: a reappraisal’ (Institue of Archaeology,1960), to open modern eyes. The reviewer recalls sitting with Derek Allen discussing his proposed outline classification, and also with another of the early scholar/students, Clem Lister, who would produce a small tin from his pocket to reveal, wrapped in a twist of paper, his latest acquisition. Commander R. P. Mack’s The Coinage of Ancient Britain (1953, 1964, 1975), which grew with each subsequent edition, is an early seminal publication still referred to. The reviewer commissioned Daphne Nash’s Coinage in the Celtic World for Seaby in1987 (subsequently Spink 2004), to take an overall view of the coins and their origins. In 1989 came R. D. Van Arsdell’s ground breaking, Celtic Coinage of Britain, followed in 1996 by Richard Hobb’s, British Iron Age Coins in the British Museum. The subtle change from ‘Celtic’ to ‘Iron Age’ should be noted as more scholars moved away from ‘Celtic’ as a catch-all description, and even queried the use of ‘Celtic’ as being appropriate for the early native tribes in Europe. Subsequently, the study of ancient British coins really took off in the academic world with numerous theses for higher degrees being produced, many focussing on the coins of specific tribes.
As the early coinage evolved names began to be added on some of the coins, identifying their tribe or place of issue, or the name of the issuing king. The earlier anepigraphic coins (without legends), could only be identified to specific areas by careful plotting of coin finds to indicate their possible tribe and area of circulation (this is where the records of the Portable Antiquities Scheme became so important). When legends began to appear on the coins (epigraphic coins) they were often only partial, as they were not always struck on full flans. This led to much speculation and academic argument. Individual coins found with fuller legends have suddenly altered the accepted interpretation not only of ruler’s names but also the name of an entire issuing tribe, and even added previously unknown kings. The sequence of many of the early British kings was often the source of discussion and now complete legends found on some coins settled the argument with relationships indicated and therefore sequence proved. Most of this new information has come through the reporting of finds by metal detectorists under the Treasure Act 1996 and the subsequent Portable Antiquities Scheme (both now administered from the British Museum with an agreed Code of Conduct).
As the study of ancient British coins has expanded from slow beginnings and with publication and re-interpretation adding to our knowledge, so the mountain of information has grown. It has often been said that we stand on the shoulders of the giants who preceded us, and this is indeed true of the pioneers in the study: Sir John Evans, Derek Allen, Commander Mack, Clem Lister, etc. It is by following their initial guidance and thoughts, taking note of and interpreting new finds, that Chris Rudd and Liz Cottam have been able to produce the incredible publication, Ancient British Coins. This, like many other authoritative publications, will become known as and referred to simply by its initial letters, ABC, and will remain an indispensable reference work for many years to come.
The book has been designed to be very user friendly, despite its large size (29x21 cms) – it is no pocket book to be used in the field. It is divided into three major parts, the first of which is introductory material presenting the pioneers, outlining the origins of the coinage, the Gallic imports, and detailing the major issuing areas (with maps and typical coins). Part Two begins by explaining how the catalogue has been put together. The coins are all shown at twice actual size for ease of recognition, and each has a unique name and ABC number, and an ‘area date code’ (e.g. EA5 = Kent, c. 60-50 BC). The coin’s unique name in the listing is followed by its denomination and metal, a short description and references to the six main catalogue sources (many coins, of course, not being found in a number of them, and indicated by a dash). Dates for the majority of the coins necessarily are speculative. Additional information might include the coin’s Celtic Coin Index number, or an indication of rarity. For coins that can be ascribed to specific rulers some very useful information is provided, what (if anything) is known about them and relevant publications. The catalogue of the British coins (excluding the listing of the Gallic imports) occupies pages 33 to 143 and includes various small box-presented explanatory notes on specific aspects of interest.
Part Three, headed “Other helpful stuff”, really is just that. An ABC fact identifier illustrates the coins in their metal order of gold, silver and bronze, referring back, via its number, to the main listing. Interesting essay are located here on The Celtic Coin Index; Ancient British Coins in the British Museum; The Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS), and indexes to significant British kings and tribal names, and a very useful four-way concordances between ABC numbers, Van Arsdell, British Museum, and Spink Standard Catalogue numbers. The highly detailed in-depth Bibliography covers 18 double-column pages.
This has been designed as a very visual and user-friendly book. There is no question that although the book will be very large and difficult to fit on the book shelves, and also an initial hefty investment in buying it, for anyone who is interested in or involved with ancient British coins, this is worth its proverbial weight in gold. It is a magnificent source book that will hold the field for a very long time.
Peter A. Clayton