THE DATED COINS OF CARAUSIUS
Late
Roman Coins
Introduction
Mints
Bibliography
The dated coins of Carausius are undoubtedly rare. Malcolm Lyne in a recent paper was only able to list nine specimens of six types and these are summarised below[1]:
2 PM TRP IIII C PP, C in exergue, Emperor standing togate with head left and holding globe (private collection)
3 PM TRP IIII C IIII, C in exergue, Emperor standing togate with head left and holding globe (private collection)
4 PM [TRP IIII] COS PP, Emperor togate seated left in curule chair holding baton; C in exergue (BM) and MC in exergue (private collection) noted
5 PM [TRP IIII] COS PP, C in exergue, Roma seated left holding winged victory; three specimens noted (the Hunt specimen for example, re-sold through Spink NCirc March 1998, item 940, illustrated as 1 below)
6
PMORPTICOSIIII, CLA in exergue, she-wolf right
with
Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Emperor togate seated left in curule chair holding baton
Weight 4.2 g; axis ¯; Find spot unknown, possibly Suffolk
A further dated coin has come into my collection, adding both a new reverse design and a new date to the corpus. This coin is, as far as I am aware, unpublished in any catalogue or academic journal.
Obv IMP CARAVSIVS PF AVG
Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev PM TRP III CO[S PP], XXI[?] in exergue
Lion walking left
Weight 5.05 g; axis ; Find spot Wiltshire
The coin, of good style, offers an unusual mintmark form, perhaps a variant of the MCXXI noted on a number of specimens.
Whilst on the subject of the dated coins parallels must be drawn between the coin listed as number 5 above and illustrated below (1) with a hitherto unrecorded seated Roma coin (2). Whilst I initially thought that coin 2 was a dated coin I soon realised that it was not and that it presented the legend [.....] CONS(ER). Whilst the opening of the legend is open to conjecture, in the absence of a specimen with a clear reading, it is not unreasonable given the reverse type to reconstruct it as ROMA(E) CONSER and, given the similarity of the two coins both in terms of reverse device and bust profile, it is not unreasonable to assume that the undated specimen is from the same mint as the dated coin.
[1] Lyne, M; ‘Some new coin types of Carausius and Allectus and the history of the British provinces AD 286-296’ NChron 163 (2003) pp 147-68
[2] Lyne, loc. cit. p.153
[3] There are two specimens (reverse die duplicates) with the reverse legend CO[NSV]L III published in Williams, H; Carausius: A consideration of the historical, archaeological and numismatic aspects of his reign British Archaeological Reports 378 (2004) p.62
[4] Webb, P; Roman Imperial Coinage 5 (1933)
[5] Bland, R & Burnett, A; ‘Normanby, Lincolnshire’ in Bland, R & Burnett, A; The Normanby Hoard and other Roman Coin Hoards CHRB 8 (1988) p. 156 discusses RIC 188 and cites the specimens of Carausius’ dated coins where the enumerator is visible as speculating that all specimens have the number IIII.
[6] Lyne, loc. cit. p.153