Iron Age

This is a minor revision to the version published in the Winter 2020 edition of Caesaromagvs, the journal of the Essex Numismatic Society, and discusses the attribution of certain Late Iron Age silver coins from the Southern Region inscribed ‘CARA’ to the historical Caratacus.

The following paper was first published in Caesaromagus No. 120, the journal of the Essex Numismatic Society. This was the occasion of the BANS 2016 Congress hosted by the Essex N.S. in their 50th anniversary year, and the issue incorporated the Congress brochure. Because the coinage described applies to the much larger North Thames region beyond Essex, it was felt it might be of interest to reproduce it here. It has been slightly amended to take into account new research and recent discoveries.

Reprinted from “Caesaromagvs”, Winter 2018 edition, by kind permission of Mike Cuddeford.

A late eighteenth century bound compilation of numismatic notes and ephemera in my possession contains illustrations of Celtic coins, along with a handwritten transcript of an accompanying text. The original of these inclusions is a 1773 publication by the notorious John White, of Newgate Street, London. The original publication is very rare, and not readily accessible. In this note I reproduce the coin images, and provide an internet link to the elusive text. White’s publication is of historic interest, and perhaps to some degree balances his tarnished reputation as a producer of counterfeit coins.