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Cunobelin Gold Stater (Classic Left), the found coin, obverse: Ear of corn, Legend CA MV and Scrolls at the base of the stalk (our reading of the featured photo, with sources on the page)

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Found coin PAS 807941 · CC BY 2.0 · Photo Richard Gibson / Richard Gibson

Cunobelin Gold Stater

‘Classic Left’

Saved · your collection

DateAD 10–40

Struck inColchester, Essex

CatalogueABC 2804

Details

Metal: Red gold, about 40% gold (estimated), about two-fifths gold with much copper. No analysis of this type was found; it is estimated from the microprobe analysis of Cunobelin's earlier Linear (40% gold, 11% silver, 48% copper). (estimate; no analysis of ABC 2804 seen)
Weight: 5.41 g5.41 g (this coin, from the copy of its record). The type averages 5.25 g on IACB (18 weighed coins, 4.40–5.45 g).
Dimensions: 17.5 mm  diameter by about 2.4 mm  thick17.5 mm (this coin, from the IACB copy of its PAS record; about 16.7 mm across the on the photo scale). IACB records 16.6–19.4 mm for 7 coins. No thickness is recorded. This coin's thickness is not recorded; about 2.4 mm is measured on our 3D model of it, whose volume is matched to the coin's recorded weight.^,
Date: c. AD 10–40About AD 10–40 (IACB); Evans placed the type late in the reign, and suggests it may be posthumous, struck just before the Roman invasion of AD 43.^,,
Where struck: Colchester, EssexColchester, Essex: the obverse names Camulodunon. Finds come from Essex, Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire and Cambridgeshire.^,
: Camulodunon (Colchester)Camulodunon (Colchester), named on the obverse as CA MV.^,
Dies known: 2 obverse, 4 reverse (quoted second-hand)2 obverse and 4 dies, according to John Sills's (2017), as quoted by a dealer. (published count quoted second-hand)
: Roughly 20,000–80,000 statersRoughly 20,000–80,000 staters (about 40,000 at the usual working average): 2 known obverse dies × 10,000–40,000 coins per . A rough , not a measured figure.^, (estimate; method: obverse dies × coins per die)
Known examples: 22 on IACB22 on IACB (14 Celtic Coin Index records, 4 PAS finds, 3 in the British Museum and the catalogue coin); a dealer gives 19 known. Two copper-alloy contemporary copies are also recorded.^,,
Where to see one: British Museum (by appointment)British Museum, London. In store, can be seen by appointment; 2 examples (BMC 1834–1835). Hobbs's 1996 catalogue of the Museum's Iron Age coins lists this type as nos. 1834–1835. Not known to be on display; the Money and Medals Study Room shows any coin in the collection by appointment. search the British Museum collection^,Other museum examples may be listed by IACB: see IACBChecked 2026-11-04. Displays change: check with the museum before a visit.

Design

Obverse front

Established A tall ear of bearded corn (barley) on a central stalk, its grains in pairs with long bristles.
- One reading Evans thought the , like the horse, came by stages from the 'degenerate Philippus', the British copies of Philip II's gold .
- Context from the period The corn ear became the mark of Cunobelin's gold and is often read as a sign of the wealth of his kingdom's farmland; no ancient source explains it.
Established CA to the left of the corn ear and MV to the right, read together as CAMV, short for Camulodunon (Colchester).
- Established CAMV names Camulodunon, Cunobelin's capital and at Colchester.

Reverse back

Established A naturalistic horse prancing to the left, forelegs raised, with a fine mane.
- Established Evans remarked that the horse faces left 'instead of to the right' as on Cunobelin's other gold, and is 'remarkably well drawn'.
One reading Above the horse, a stalk with a thistle-like head between two leaves, like a plume resting on a reversed .
- One reading Evans read it as 'a flower on a long stalk, between two waving leaves', allied to or derived from the ox-skull () above the horse on coins of Tasciovanus and others.
- One reading suggests the floral emblem marks a posthumous issue, struck after Cunobelin's death by his sons Caratacus or Togodumnus.
Established CVNO in capitals below the horse, standing on the line: the first letters of Cunobelin's name.
- Established CVNO abbreviates Cunobelinus, the king who issued the coin.

Die-by-die notes on each featureMembers

Examples

5catalogued

1shown

4linked

22known in all^,

FeaturedPAS 8079415.41 g · 17.5 mmPhoto: Richard Gibson / The Portable Antiquities Scheme, via Wikimedia CommonsCC BY 2.0

Linked examples

PAS 734515 · City of Peterborough (PAS)
PAS 734520 · City of Peterborough (PAS)
PAS 238849 · 5.38 g · Buckinghamshire (hoard of 17 staters and 9 units of Cunobelin) (PAS)
Silbury Coins IAC184 · 5.41 g · 19 mm (sale)

Where these were found

Recorded finds in our records: 4 in 3 counties (most in Cambridgeshire and Essex).

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Free view: counted by county

Each find at its parish or district

Finds by county

Cambridgeshire2
Buckinghamshire1
Essex1

Open in the Find map Members: every find, with its record

Find data: Portable Antiquities Scheme (CC BY 4.0), from the records cited on each coin page. Places: Wikidata (CC0). Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors, Protomaps.

References

Evans 1864, plate IX, fig. 3, p. 297Public-domain book · Same type

Evans 1864, plate IX, fig. 3, p. 297, Plate IX

Evans 1864, plate IX, fig. 3, p. 297, p. 297

Plate IX., No. 3. Obv.—CA-MV on either side of an ear of bearded corn, the stalk springing from an ornament shaped like a Gothic trefoil. Rev.—CVNO beneath a horse galloping to the left; above, an ornament, in shape like the Prince of Wales' plume, resting on a reversed crescent. There is an exergual line, and the whole is within a beaded circle. N. 82¾, 81¾ grains. The coin here engraved is in the British Museum, but I am not aware of its place of finding, nor of that of any other specimens of this type. I have published it in the Num. Chron., vol. xx. p. 157, No. 1. The obverse is much the same as that of the ordinary gold coins of Cunobeline which follow, though the ear of corn is rather more widely spread than usual; but the reverse is remarkable, as having the horse to the left, instead of to the right. The ornament above the horse is also singular, and may be intended for a flower on a long stalk, between two waving leaves. It is, however, in some degree allied to, or derived from, the bucranium, which occupies a similar position above the horse on coins of Tasciovanus, Dubnovellaunus, Andoco[mius], and Vose[nos]. An ornament of much the same character, but reversed, appears on a Gaulish gold coin, Rev. Num., N.S., vol. viii. pl. xvi. 2. The horse itself is remarkably well drawn, and the whole execution of the coin is extremely good. Though I have placed it in the Plate among the first of the gold coins of Cunobeline, I am, from the skill with which it is engraved, inclined to assign it to the latter part of his reign. I have already remarked that the type of both obverse and reverse is probably derived from the degenerate Philippus. The ear of corn on all these coins differs from that on the coins of Metapontum, in having only two rows of grains instead of three.

Evans 1864, plate IX, fig. 3, p. 297 · Read it on p. 297

Whole book at the Internet Archive

Catalogues and books

ABC 2804E. Cottam, P. de Jersey, C. Rudd and J. Sills, Ancient British Coins (Aylsham 2010), p. 137, no. 2804 ('Classic Left')
E. Cottam, P. de Jersey, C. Rudd and J. , Ancient British Coins (Aylsham 2010), p. 137, no. 2804 ('Classic Left') · link
VA 2029R. D. Van Arsdell, Celtic Coinage of Britain (London 1989), no. 2029 (= BMC 1834, per PAS 238849)
R. D. Van Arsdell, Celtic Coinage of Britain (London 1989), no. 2029 (= 1834, per 238849)
BMC 1834–1835R. Hobbs, British Iron Age Coins in the British Museum (London 1996), nos. 1834–1835
R. Hobbs, British Iron Age Coins in the British Museum (London 1996), nos. 1834–1835
Sills DK 571J. Sills, Divided Kingdoms (Aylsham 2017), DK 571, Cunobelinus staters Class 8 – Classic Left (as quoted by Silbury Coins)
J. Sills, Divided Kingdoms (Aylsham 2017), 571, Cunobelinus staters Class 8 – Classic Left (as quoted by Silbury Coins)
Allen Classic BD. F. Allen, 'Cunobelin's gold', Britannia 6 (1975), Classic B (as cited by Silbury Coins)
D. F. , 'Cunobelin's gold', Britannia 6 (1975), Classic B (as cited by Silbury Coins)

Sources

1IACB ABC 2804Iron Age Coins in Britain (IACB), University of Oxford: type ABC 2804 (Cunobelinus; AD 10–40; gold stater; obv. 'Corn ear with central stalk, CA to left, MV to right'; rev. 'Horse left, floral motif above, CVNO below') and its examples list (22 records, incl. the featured coin as PUBLIC-5F9296, 5.41 g, 17.5 mm; nomisma.org SPARQL CSV read 4 Nov 2026)
Iron Age Coins in Britain (IACB), University of Oxford: type ABC 2804 (Cunobelinus; AD 10–40; gold stater; obv. 'Corn ear with central stalk, CA to left, MV to right'; rev. 'Horse left, floral motif above, CVNO below') and its examples list (22 records, incl. the featured coin as PUBLIC-5F9296, 5.41 g, 17.5 mm; nomisma.org SPARQL CSV read 4 Nov 2026) link
2PAS 807941Portable Antiquities Scheme record 807941 (PUBLIC-5F9296), Essex: 'A gold Iron Age stater ... of Cunobelin, c. AD 8-41, Cunobelinus Classic Left type. Obverse: Corn ear with central stalk, CA to left MV to right. Reverse: Horse left, floral motif above, CVNO below. As ABC p. 137, no. 2804; BMC nos. 1834-1835'. Photo Richard Gibson / PAS, CC BY 2.0 (featured coin; Commons copy, revision 1182442876)
Portable Antiquities Scheme record 807941 (PUBLIC-5F9296), Essex: 'A gold Iron Age stater ... of Cunobelin, c. AD 8-41, Cunobelinus Classic Left type. Obverse: Corn ear with central stalk, CA to left MV to right. Reverse: Horse left, floral motif above, CVNO below. As ABC p. 137, no. 2804; BMC nos. 1834-1835'. Photo Richard Gibson / PAS, CC BY 2.0 (featured coin; Commons copy, revision 1182442876) link
3PAS 734515, 734520, 238849Portable Antiquities Scheme records 734515 and 734520 (City of Peterborough: copper-alloy contemporary copies, 'For prototype, see BMC, p. 126, nos 1834-1834; ABC, p. 137, no. 2804') and 238849 (Buckinghamshire hoard: coin 17 'Classic series B ... 5.38g VA 2029 = BMC 1834') (Commons copies)
Portable Antiquities Scheme records 734515 and 734520 (City of Peterborough: copper-alloy contemporary copies, 'For prototype, see BMC, p. 126, nos 1834-1834; ABC, p. 137, no. 2804') and 238849 (Buckinghamshire hoard: coin 17 'Classic series B ... 5.38g VA 2029 = BMC 1834') (Commons copies) link
4Evans 1864J. Evans, The Coins of the Ancient Britons (London 1864), pl. IX no. 3, p. 297 (British Museum coin)
J. Evans, The Coins of the Ancient Britons (London 1864), pl. IX no. 3, p. 297 (British Museum coin) link
p. 297
5Wikipedia: CunobelinusWikipedia, 'Cunobelinus' (read 4 Nov 2026): Camulodunum mint marked CAMV, corn-ear staters, sons Togodumnus and Caratacus (Cassius Dio), son of Tasciovanus by his coin legends
Wikipedia, 'Cunobelinus' (read 4 Nov 2026): Camulodunum mint marked CAMV, corn-ear staters, sons Togodumnus and Caratacus (Cassius Dio), son of Tasciovanus by his coin legends link
6Northover analysis (coin 42)Electron-microprobe analysis by P. Northover of a Cunobelin Linear stater (VA 1925-1, Ashmolean 67, 5.27 g) for Van Arsdell's catalogue: 40.3% gold, 11.1% silver, 48.2% copper (as recorded on our coin 42)
Electron-microprobe analysis by P. Northover of a Cunobelin Linear stater (VA 1925-1, Ashmolean 67, 5.27 g) for Van Arsdell's catalogue: 40.3% gold, 11.1% silver, 48.2% copper (as recorded on our coin 42) link
7SILVER projectSILVER project (KBR, Brussels), 'Methodological issues': 20,000 coins per obverse die as the working average, range 10,000–40,000 (after F. de Callataÿ)
SILVER project (KBR, Brussels), 'Methodological issues': 20,000 coins per obverse die as the working average, range 10,000–40,000 (after F. de Callataÿ) link
8Silbury IAC184Silbury Coins, listing IAC184 ('Classic Left Type', ABC 2804, 19 mm, 5.41 g; 'Extremely Rare, 19 known'; notes quoting Evans IX.3, Allen Classic B, Van Arsdell, and J. Sills, Divided Kingdoms (2017), DK 571, 2 obverse and 4 reverse dies, the floral emblem suggesting a posthumous issue of Caratacus or Togodumnus; read 4 Nov 2026)
Silbury Coins, listing IAC184 ('Classic Left Type', ABC 2804, 19 mm, 5.41 g; 'Extremely Rare, 19 known'; notes quoting Evans IX.3, Allen Classic B, Van Arsdell, and J. Sills, Divided Kingdoms (2017), DK 571, 2 obverse and 4 reverse dies, the floral emblem suggesting a posthumous issue of Caratacus or Togodumnus; read 4 Nov 2026) link
9Wikipedia: CatuvellauniWikipedia, 'Catuvellauni' (read 4 Nov 2026)
Wikipedia, 'Catuvellauni' (read 4 Nov 2026) link
10Wikipedia: TrinovantesWikipedia, 'Trinovantes' (read 4 Nov 2026)
Wikipedia, 'Trinovantes' (read 4 Nov 2026) link
11Hobbs 1996R. Hobbs, British Iron Age Coins in the British Museum (London 1996): the British Museum's own coins, by catalogue number (BMC)
R. Hobbs, British Iron Age Coins in the British Museum (London 1996): the British Museum's own coins, by catalogue number (BMC)
12Wikipedia: BM Money and MedalsWikipedia, 'British Museum Department of Money and Medals' (read 29 Oct 2026): 'Items from the full collection can be seen by the general public in the Study Room by appointment.'
Wikipedia, 'British Museum Department of Money and Medals' (read 29 Oct 2026): 'Items from the full collection can be seen by the general public in the Study Room by appointment.' link

Ruler

Cunobelin (Cunobelinus) · c. AD 9–40

King north of the Thames; Shakespeare's Cymbeline

King north of the Thames for about thirty years. His gold names Camulodunon (Colchester) as its , and the became the mark of his staters. The Classic Left , with its finely drawn horse facing left, is one of the last and rarest; thinks it may have been struck after his death. He used the Latin title and Roman-style designs, and his reign saw a boom in trade with the Roman world. He died about AD 40, before the Roman invasion of AD 43, which his sons opposed. He is Shakespeare's Cymbeline.^,

Known for Ruling the most powerful kingdom in Britain from Camulodunon in the generation before the Roman conquest.

Family and links

Tasciovanosfather

Cunobelin (Cunobelinus)this coin

TogodumnussonCaratacusson

Cunobelin (Cunobelinus): the ruler of this coin · on the timeline
Tasciovanos: father; read from coin legends · on the timeline
Togodumnus: son; recorded (Cassius Dio)
Caratacus: son; recorded (Cassius Dio) · on the timeline

People Catuvellauni and Trinovantes: Two neighbouring peoples north of the Thames: the in today's Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire (centred on St Albans), and the in Essex and south Suffolk (centred on Colchester). Under Cunobelin they were ruled together.^,,

Read more: Wikipedia: Cunobelinus · Iron Age Coins in Britain: ABC 2804 · PAS record 807941 (featured coin) · Cunobelin: all coins · Catuvellauni and Trinovantes: all coins

Value

Members

Last sale £7,950 (listing marked sold) · Silbury Coins, lot IAC184

Other recorded sales (£7,950 to £7,950), each with its sourceOne Silbury Coins asking price (sold, date not shown).

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