Movement through Coins: Detecting Movement and Mobility between Rome and Late Iron Age Britain through Coinage (15 min)

Presenters

Phoebe Hyun, Harvard University

Abstract

Circa third century B.C.E., Gallo-Belgic coins inspired by the staters of Philip II of Macedon first reached Iron Age Britain. Thenceforth, British coinage remained rooted in Greek minting traditions (such as minting bimetallically with a narrow range of coin types) for almost two centuries. However, even decades before its earliest encounters with Rome in mid-first century B.C.E., it seems late Iron Age Britain’s chieftains had already begun abandoning their Macedon-inspired coinage for Rome’s practices of minting trimetallically an extensive range of coin types. This phenomenon gives us unique insight into how Rome’s coinage preceded its borders. Unfortunately, this topic is understudied (excepting I. Lein’s 2012 thesis on Iron Age British coin distribution). I explore it further, investigating the mobility of Roman coinage characteristics as they traversed the western Mediterranean to reach Britain. To begin, I trace how Britain converted to a trimetallic system by comparing coin deposition patterns across three generations of chieftains (whose rules lasted c. 60 B.C.E.–40 C.E.) against C. Howgego’s 1994 theory on circulation differences between bi- and trimetallic coinages. Second, using the Portable Antiquities Scheme database of 350 British hoards, I explore the archaeological contexts of these hoards to hypothesize how and for which functions (e.g., monetary or religious) Britons were employing the coins. Finally, I track how the politicocultural significance of coin types in Britain shifted by analyzing those of the chieftains Tincomarus and Cunobelinus, two particularly prolific minters from this period. Ultimately, I conclude that Iron Age Britain’s coinage was undeniably affected by the movement of Rome’s monetary and politicocultural influence, causing the former to transition into a trimetallic system and a completely different iconographical practice. However, I simultaneously emphasize the British sociocultural values that were more reticent to change, like their continued preference for silver over gold coins in particular contexts.