Sale: Triton VIII, Lot: 1228. Estimate $3000.  Closing Date: Monday, 10 January 2005.  Sold For $1900. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

CARAUSIUS. Romano-British Emperor, 286-293 AD. AR Denarius (4.25 gm). Struck circa 287 AD. IMP CARAVSIVS P F AVG, laureate and draped bust right / F-E-LIC-ITA AVG, galley on waves, with central mast and four rowers, sailing right. RIC V 560; Shiel 47, pl. I, 47 (same dies); Casey pl. 2, 11. VF, darkly toned, some flatness in the strike // Lot also includes an as of Hadrian, a sestertius of Marcus Aurelius, a denarius of Crispina, an antoninianus of Tetricus II, a silvered antoninianus of Probus, and Æs of Constantine I, Urbs Roma, Constantine II, Constantius II, Delmatius and Decentius. Average VF. All coins were found at Richborough Castle in Kent, and come with an antique, custom-made presentation case. Twelve (12) coins in lot. ($3000)

Richborough (Roman Rutupiae) was one of the first Roman sites established in Britain during the invasion of 43 AD under the emperor Claudius. Though not likely the site of the original landing (which was probably closer to Deal), Richborough’s location near the River Stour provided a safe landing place for later shipping. Although the original structures are unknown today, it is certain that a legionary unit was stationed there and that the fortifications included double ditches. Sometime after 85 AD, erroneously believing that Agricola had successfully completed the subjugation of Britain, Domitian had a triumphal arch built, which was transformed into a coastal watchtower in the third century. In 285/6 AD, to stem the tide of the Saxon pirates, whose raids jeopardized the southern shore of Britain as well as northern Gaul, Diocletian oversaw the development of the “Saxon Shore Forts,” a series of fortifications built along both shorelines. Richborough was transformed into one of these forts by the addition of large, 25-foot-high stone walls. Known as Richborough “castle,” these fortifications are still visible today. During the time of the Romano-British empire, the fort appears to have had some importance, likely due to its proximity to the Continent, and its being a potential invasion site. After the fall of Rome, Richborough appears to have been deserted, except for a short period in which it served as some form of early Christian site. Beginning in the 1920s and lasting throughout the 1930s, the site was excavated, yielding a total of over 56,000 Roman coins (mostly from fill placed in the original ditches), including a wealth of Carausian coins. As one of the primary sources of Carausian coinage, the finds there have been particularly rich in the rare silver denarii of Carausius with the RSR mintmark. This mintmark has yet to be positively identified, but a dominent theory is that it is in fact the Roman fort at Richborough (but see de la Bédoyère, “Carausius and the Marks RSR and I.N.P.C.D.A.,” NC 1998, for an alternate interpretation of RSR as a quote from Vergil’s Eclogues IV.6-7: Redeunt Saturnia Regna).