Catalog
Bronze Unit - Tasciovanos Tasciovanos Lion and Sphinx
| Issuer | Catuvellauni and Trinovantes tribes (Celtic Britain) |
|---|---|
| Year | 15 BC - 10 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Lion passant to right with head turned back in retrograde pose, rendered in the stylized Celtic manner with exaggerated body musculature. The design occupies the central field, with the animal's form reduced to bold abstract curves characteristic of Late Iron Age British coinage. A pellet border encircles the entire design, providing a decorative boundary to the flan. No inscription or legend is present, consistent with the uninscribed series attributed to Tasciovanos. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Tasciovanos ruled the Catuvellauni from roughly the late first century BC, operating from Verulamium — modern St Albans — and was almost certainly the father of Cunobelin, Shakespeare's Cymbeline. His bronze issues circulated in a region increasingly saturated with Roman trade goods and Gallo-Belgic monetary influence, yet his coinage retained distinctly insular die-cutting traditions. The iconographic pairing catalogued here appears on some of his smallest denominations, struck at a moment when the tribe was consolidating control over former Trinovantian territory following the collapse of that tribe's independent coinage.