Cunobelin Quarter Stater
CELTIC, Trinovantes & Catuvellauni. Cunobelin. Circa AD 10-43. AV Quarter Stater (10mm, 1.31 g, 10h). Plastic type (Trinovantian W). Camulodunum (Colchester) mint. Grain ear / Horse leaping right; branch and pellet above. ABC 2816; Van Arsdell 2015-1; SCBC 294. Obverse off-centre, a few light scratches. Good VF.
After succeeding to the throne of the Catuvellauni circa AD 9-10, Cunobelin, the son of Tasciovanus, extended his control over several other tribes in Southeastern Britannia . He controlled so much of the island that the Roman historian Suetonius later referred to him as "king of the Britons." Whether this expansion was by conquest or mutual accord is not known. His extensive coinage was struck at Camulodunum (modern Colchester), capital of the Trinovantes tribe, as well as at Verlamion (St. Albans), a Catuvellaunian town. His coinage features Latin inscriptions and uses many Roman motifs, indicating his had friendly relations with the Romans, if not the status of client king. Britons seemed to thrive during his long reign, and the island did a lucrative cross-channel trade in grain, precious metals, iron, hides and hunting dogs. His physical decline and death circa AD 40-43 touched off a dynastic dispute between his sons, Adminius, Togodumnus, and Caratacus that became the pretext for a full-scale Roman invasion under Claudius in 43, with Caratacus becoming leader of the resistance. In later centuries Cunobelin's reign took on the sheen of a "golden age," and he entered mythology under several different variants of his name, including Shakespeare's Cymbeline.
