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Silver Unit - Cunobelin Cunobelinus Bitch and Snake Cam Type
| Issuer | Catuvellauni and Trinovantes tribes (Celtic Britain) |
|---|---|
| Year | 20-43 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Reverse description | The reverse depicts a female dog (bitch) advancing to the right, with her body rendered in the schematic, energetic style typical of Cunobelin's Camulodunum coinage. The animal holds or grasps a serpent beneath her forelegs, with the snake's body curving beneath her. The exergual legend CAM, identifying the Camulodunum mint, appears below a ground line beneath the main device. The field surrounding the animal is plain, and the overall composition retains a lively, if stylised, quality consistent with early first-century AD Celtic die-engraving. |
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| Mintage | ND (20-43) |
| Additional information |
Cunobelin — Shakespeare's Cymbeline — ruled from Camulodunum (modern Colchester) as the most powerful British king of his generation, commanding enough regional dominance that classical sources, including Suetonius, record him as effectively king of the Britons. These silver units were struck in the final decades before Claudius's invasion of 43 AD rendered the entire tribal coinage system obsolete almost overnight. The "Cam" type designation places manufacture firmly at Camulodunum, the first British settlement to earn the status of Roman colonia after the conquest.
At 1.2g, these units represent the fractional silver tradition inherited from Gallo-Belgic imports, steadily debased and reduced over generations of insular production.