Image credit: Spink; auction: 23,006; lot: 26
NEWS: 2,000 year old coin found by detectorist reveals name of forgotten Iron Age ruler
A coin found in Hampshire (England) bears the name of an Iron Age ruler that history had previously forgotten. The coin is stamped with the name ‘IISVNIRTOS’ (Esunertos) which is believed to roughly translate as ‘Mighty as the god Esus’ (Esus being a popular deity worshipped by ancient Britons and Gauls). The coin dates from around 50 - 30 BC and so was minted shortly after Julius Caesar’s two invasions of Britannia in 55 and 54 BC. The Roman Empire did not conquer Britannia until the invasion of 43 AD during the reign of Emperor Claudius but Roman culture was apparent in Iron Age Britain following Caesar’s two visits. This Roman influence can be seen in the style of this coin. It is speculated that Esunertos may have ruled his territory from Danebury hillfort which is near where the coin was found.
The coin was found by detectorist Lewis Fudge on 12th March and was sold last month at Spink auctions for £20,400. Dr John Sills (Celtic Coin Index at the Ashmolean Museum and Research Associate in archaeology for the University of Oxford) described the find as “one of the outstanding discoveries of recent decades in Celtic numismatics.”
Senior coin specialist Gregory Edmund from Spink auctions stated:
“This fabulous piece of prehistoric artwork completes the mental image we have when we think of Iron Age Britain – the war horse and chariot. But it also surprises us with the appearance of classical languages like Latin. This is the reason I come to work; to document the discoveries of national importance and share that knowledge directly with museums and amongst academics, collectors and the public at large.” He continued, “On a personal note, this find is particularly vindicating for me. I focused my university degree on the Roman invasion of Britain through the lens of Britain’s first coinage. To now add a critically important contemporary witness to those seismic events in the birth of our island’s story is electrifying. Despite the coin’s diminutive size, the name of its conceiver - Esunertos - now truly echoes down the ages.”
18/10/2023