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COIN
Unique ID: SUSS-846943
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation 
Roman copper-alloy plated irregular as of Claudius with an iron core, 43-60 AD.
As the iron core has rusted it has expanded pushing open cracks or weak points in the copper coating. The coin is 1.8mm thick, 4.7mm including the corrosion. The copper alloy coating is c.0.2mm thick.
Robert Kenyon, following on from the work by the French scholars P-A. Besombes and M. Bompaire (in Trésors Monétaires XXI, 2005), is working through the British examples of Claudian coinage recorded through the PAS assigning many so-called Claudian contemporary copies to Roman auxiliary mints which operated at Lyons (Gaul) and in Spain. This example is a contemporary copy of those minted at the Lyon II, à la Petite Tête.
Many copies of Claudian period asses were struck in Britain in the decades following the invasion of AD 43. This was because there was a serious shortage of small change for the up to 50,000 or so Roman soldiers in the Province to use. It is now reckoned that many of these coins were in fact semi-official, being struck at legionary bases such as Colchester. The "Minerva" As was the most common type copied. This coin is very unusual in being a copper plated iron copy and may be an unofficial, illegal, copy rather than a semi-official copy.
Find of note status
This is a find of note and has been designated: County / local importance
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: ROMAN
Period from: ROMAN
Period to: ROMAN
Date from: Circa AD 43
Date to: Circa AD 60
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Thickness: 4.7 mm
Weight: 8.33 g
Diameter: 25.9 mm
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Sunday 7th March 2010
Personal details
This information is restricted for your access level.
Materials and construction
Primary material: Copper alloy
Secondary material: Iron
Manufacture method: Struck or hammered
Completeness: Complete
Coin data (numismatics)
Denomination: As
Denomination qualifier: Certain
Ruler/issuer: Claudius
Primary ruler qualifier: Certain
Reece period: Period 2 [41-54]
Mint or issue place: Lugdunum Auxillary Mint II
Obverse description: Head facing left
Obverse inscription: [...]VS CA[E...]
Reverse description: Minerva advancing right with raised spear and shield
Reverse inscription: S-C
Die axis measurement: 6 o'clock
Degree of wear: Worn: fine
Status: Contemporary copy (Plated copy)
Status qualifier: Certain
Coin references
- Boon Counterfeit Coins : pl. IV, c.f. 50-52 for general type
Spatial metadata
Region: South East (European Region)County or Unitary authority: West Sussex (County)
District: Arun (District)
To be known as: Near Findon
Spatial coordinates
Grid reference source: GPS (from the finder)
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 1 metre square.
References cited
No references cited so far.
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Timeline of associated dates
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