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Bronze Unit - Cunobelin Cunobelinus Belenus
| Issuer | Catuvellauni and Trinovantes tribes (Celtic Britain) |
|---|---|
| Year | 10-20 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A boar advancing to the left, rendered in the stylised Celtic manner characteristic of Catuvellaunian coinage, with a curled tail and body details suggested by pellet-in-ring motifs. A decorative branch or floral element appears above the boar, occupying the upper field. The abbreviated inscription of the issuing ruler appears below the boar in the lower field. The overall composition is compact and well-centred within the irregular flan, consistent with hand-struck Iron Age coinage of this series. |
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| Reverse lettering | CVN (Translation: Cunobelin.) |
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| Additional information |
Cunobelin ruled from Camulodunum — modern Colchester — for roughly four decades, longer than any other recorded Late Iron Age king in Britain. His authority over both the Catuvellauni and Trinovantes represented an unusual consolidation of rival tribal territories, and it was almost certainly his growing dominance that prompted Strabo and later classical writers to treat southern Britain as a coherent political entity worth noting. Shakespeare's Cymbeline is a garbled echo of him.
Small bronze units of this type circulated as low-denomination everyday coinage, the kind of issue that passed through markets and toll points rather than treasuries. Die alignment on these is frequently inconsistent — a structural feature of the series, not individual wear.