Catalog
Bronze ½ Unit - Tasciovanos Mercury TAS
| Issuer | Catuvellauni and Trinovantes tribes (Celtic Britain) |
|---|---|
| Year | 15 BC - 10 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Bronze ½ Unit |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | TAS |
| Reverse description | A boar advancing to the right, depicted in a stylised Celtic manner with exaggerated bristles along the spine, conveying the animal's strength and sacred symbolism. Above the boar, a crescent is flanked on each side by a pellet triad, forming a symmetrical decorative arrangement typical of late British Iron Age coinage. A single pellet appears beneath the boar's tail, while a rosette motif is positioned before its feet. A Latin inscription appears below an exergual line, completing the reverse composition. |
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| Additional information |
Tasciovanos ruled the Catuvellauni from roughly the late first century BC, operating out of Verulamium — present-day St Albans — and his coinage marks one of the earliest sustained series of struck bronze from the British Iron Age. Most Celtic British bronze at this period was cast rather than struck, which makes the Tasciovanan struck series technically unusual for its time and place. The TAS abbreviation appearing on issues attributed to him is among the earliest examples of a ruler's abbreviated name used as a mint or issuing authority signature in pre-Roman Britain.