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Bronze Unit - Cunobelin Cunobelinus Bull Sacrifice
| Issuer | Catuvellauni and Trinovantes tribes (Celtic Britain) |
|---|---|
| Year | 20-43 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | A winged figure, rendered in the schematic Celtic artistic tradition, is depicted striding or leaping above a bull or bovine animal moving to the right, occupying the central field. The composition reflects a sacrificial or ritual scene consistent with Late Iron Age British iconography. The design is executed in bold low relief with characteristically abstract Celtic stylisation, with the winged motif rendered as radiating lines above the principal figure. The abbreviated legend CV NO appears in the lower field, referencing the royal name of Cunobelin. The flan is irregular and slightly scalloped at the periphery, typical of hammered bronze coinage of this period. |
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| Reverse script | Latin |
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Cunobelin ruled from Camulodunum — modern Colchester — for roughly four decades, making him one of the longest-reigning and most politically consequential of all Iron Age British rulers. Shakespeare's Cymbeline is a loose dramatisation of his reign. His kingdom absorbed the Trinovantes through dynastic consolidation rather than outright conquest, creating a political entity substantial enough that Rome tracked it closely. Suetonius records that the expulsion of Cunobelin's son Adminius partly prompted Claudius's invasion of 43 AD — the very year this coinage ceased.