A HOARD OF CARAUSIUS AND ALLECTUS

Transcription

1 HORD OF CRUSIUS ND LLECTUS BURTON FROM ROGER BLND THE hoard was found by Mr W. D. Evans at Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, in December The list published below gives details of 108 pieces of which all but two were examined in Northampton Museum in These may be summarized as follows: Victorinus Carausius Carausius for Diocletian llectus Gallic Mint 1 London 'C' Mint Unmarked Total The hoard was said originally to have consisted of between 124 and 140 coins and was found in association with a number of sherds of third- and fourth-century black and grey ware, two tesserae and parts of bricks and roofing tiles and pieces of slag. The fine state of preservation of the coins makes them important for establishing the weight standards of the issues of Carausius and llectus. Unfortunately, it was not possible to weigh the coins but Lawrence Cope had done so and he included two histograms of the weights in his thesis; 3 these are reproduced here (Fig. 1). s Cope pointed out, it is noticeable that the British weight standard of seventy-two coins to a Roman pound 4 was higher than that used by Diocletian and Maximian (eighty-four to a pound). No No grams Carausius: 58 coins, average 4.28 grams grams llectus: 48 coins, average 4.40 grams FIG. 1 Weight distributions of coins in Burton Latimer hoard (after Cope). The closest parallel to this hoard is the Colchester hoard, 5 inasmuch as both belong to the class of deposit which virtually exclude llectan 'quinarii', the unmarked antoniniani of Carausius (which contain no silver), and antoniniani struck before urelian's reform. 7 1 Kettering Leader and Guardian, 31/12/1954. : Description of the two pieces that I did not see are taken from a MS list of the hoard in Northampton Museum. 1 would like to thank Mr W. R. G. Moore for allowing me to study the hoard, and my colleague ndrew Burnett for much help in this task. 1 L. H. Cope, 'The metallurgical development of the Roman Imperial coinage during the first three centuries D', Liverpool Polytechnic 1974 (unpublished thesis), p ' Carausius and llectus used the same standard for their gold issues. 5 NC 1930, Some of these coins were subsequently acquired by the BM, and a great many passed to the shmolean from the Evans collection. Cope, p See above, p. 27.

2 42 HORD OF CRUSIUS ND LLECTUS FROM BURTON It is a hoard, then, which consists almost exclusively of those higher denomination coins that were then current. It has been suggested by ndrew Burnett elsewhere in this volume that llectus's 'quinarii' were contemporary with some at least of his antoniniani, in which case their absence here would not be chronologically significant. Consequently, since the hoard contained all the issues of antoniniani, its deposition can be dated to the end of llectus's reign, in 295 (or 29). 9 CTLOGUE The following obverse bust codes are employed: Bl Bust, radiate, cuirassed, seen from the front, right. Bust, radiate, draped and cuirassed, seen from the front, right. D2 Bust, radiate, draped and cuirassed, seen from behind, right. Z Bust uncertain. n asterisk after the catalogue number refers to a note at the end of the catalogue. ll coins, except Nos. 1, 32 and 5, are illustrated. VICTORINUS Mint 1 No. Reverse Mint mark Obv. IMP C PIV VICTORINVS PF VG 1. PX VG Bust Die-axis Reference Elmer 49 CRUSIUS London Mint Obv. IMP CRVSIVS PF VG 2*. FORTVN VG L/-//ML PX VG vertical sceptre F/O//ML N N F/O//ML H 7. transverse sceptre H a 5 o. MRTI PCIF B/E//MLXXI PX VG vertical sceptre B/E//ML XXI] B/E//MLXXI H 13. B/E//[MLXXI] Bl or transverse sceptre B/E//MLXXI Bl Z Obv. IMP C CRVSIVS PF VG (variants given in notes) 1. PX VG vertical sceptre B/E//MLX[XI] Bl H B/E//ML[XXI] 18. B/E//MLXXI B/E//MLX XI] IT 20. transverse sceptre B/E//MLXXI Bl or * See above, p. 28 '' For a discussion of the date of llectus's defeat, see above, p. 21.

3 HORD OF CRUSIUS ND LLECTUS FROM BURTON No * Reverse PX VGGG vertical sceptre transverse sceptre n a a Mint mark S/-//MLXXI S/P//MLXXI Bust BI Die-axis 7 Reference RIC cf Obv. IMP C DIOCLETINVS PF VG PX VGGG vertical sceptre S/P//MLXXI BI cf Obv. IMP C CRVSIVS PF VG PX VG vertical sceptre SLVS VG PX VG transverse sceptre? sceptre S/P//MLXXI S/P//ML Z ? cf. 98 cf /118 'C' Mint Obv. IMP CRVSIVS PF VG (variants given in notes) 33. POLLINI CON -l-c * LETIT VG * SPES PVBLIC * TEMP FELIC SLVS VG -l-cxx I * S[LVS VJG s icii * PX VG vertical sceptre S/P// n a a a a a n a a n a n 43. a a a a 44. a a a a a 45. PROVID VG PX VGGG vertical sceptre S/P//C * * transverse sceptre * PROVID VGGG a * a * TEMPORVM FELIC a PX VG vertical sceptre S/P//C * a a a a * a a a a * transverse sceptre *? sceptre Z 7? 57. PROVID VG 357 Unmarked issues Obv. IMP CRVSIVS PF VG 58.* MONIT V G Obv. IMP CRVSIVS P VG 59. PX VG vertical sceptre 855 var. 881

4 44 HORD OF CRUSIUS ND LLECTUS FROM BURTON No. Reverse Mint mark Bust Die-axis Reference Obv. IMP C CRVSIVS P [...] RIC 0. P[X ]VG vertical sceptre Z cf. 879 Obv. IMP C LLECTVS PF VG LLECTUS London Mint RIC Burnc 1. PX VG vertical sceptre S/P//ML Bl transverse sceptre a a n a n H a 5. a 12. a Bl/Dl 11/12 7. PROVID VG Bl Bl/Dl ll 9.* VIRTVS VG n Bl COMES VG S///ML Bl cf PX VG transverse sceptre D a 73. ll ll ll 12 ll ll Bl ll ll ll 1 ll 77. ll It 12 ll ll 78. ll S///[ML] LETITI VG S///ML D Bl PROVID VG ll a a ll 11 ll ll 83. PROVIDENTI VG ll SLVS VG LETITI VG S///MSL D Bl ll a a n a 88. a ll a 89. a ll H PROVIDENTI VG a Obv. 'C' Mint IMP C LLECTVS PF VG (variants given in notes) 92.* FIDES MILITVM S/P//C Bl IOVI CONSE 72 var LETITI VG Bl » Bl 7 9.* PX VG vertical sceptre * transverse sceptre ll 7 90 var PROVIDENTI VG Bl n n ll N N n N PROVID VG 97 12

5 HORD OF CRUSIUS ND LLECTUS FROM BURTON No. Reverse Mint mark Bust Die-axis Reference 105.* 10.* PROVID VG SLVS VG LETITI VG PROVIDENTI VG RIC Burnett S/Plie S/P//CL B Notes to the catalogue 2. Fortuna stg. 1., holding rudder and cornucopiae (not baton as RIC states). 24. Obv. reads [...] CRVSIVS PF VG. 32. This coin was not seen in 1984; its description is taken from a MS list in Northampton Museum. The obv. is not described but is inferred from the mint-mark. 34. Laetitia stg. 1., holding wreath and anchor. 35. Spes walking 1., holding flower and raising robe. 3. Felicitas stg. 1., holding long vertical caduceus and cornucopiae. Obv. reads IMP CRVSIVS P VG. 38. Obv. IMP c CRVSIVS P VG. 39. Obv. IMP C CRVSIVS PF I VG Obv. IMP c CRVSIVS P VG. 49. Providentia stg. 1., holding globe and transverse sceptre. 50. Providentia stg. 1., holding globe and cornucopiae. 51. Felicitas stg. 1., holding long vertical caduceus and cornucopiae. Obv. reads IMP c CRVSIVS PF IN VG. 53. Obv. IMP c CRVSIVS VG. 54. Obv. IMP C CRVSIVS PIVS FEL VG. 55. Obv. IMP c CRVSIVS VG. 5. This coin was not seen in 1984; its description is taken from a MS list in Northampton Museum. The obv. is not described. 58. Moneta stg. 1., holding scales and cornucopiae. 9. Mars stg. 1., r. hand on shield that rests on ground, 1. hand holding long vertical spear. 92. Fides stg. 1., holding a standard in each hand. 9. Obv. IMP C LLECTVS PF I VG. 97. Obv. IMP C LLECTVS PF IN VG Obv. IMP C LLECTVS P VG. 10. Salus stg. r., holding snake in arms.

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