Roman Coins Which Commemorate Military Campaigns in BRITANNIA.

[GERMANICVS]

I believe Roman coins depicting Britannia are popular among Anglosaxon collectors?  (Much the same way, I guess ,that I get excited about Roman coins associated with events in Germania). 

Here is an example of an Antoninus Pius sestertius, low grade and with some damage, which depicts Britannia seated on a pile of Rocks, cradling a lance and holding a shield. The coin was struck in Rome to commemorate successful campaigns in the northern frontier.

Antoninus Pius. AD 138-161. Æ Sestertius, Rome mint. Struck AD 143-144. Laureate head right / Britannia seated left on heap of rocks, holding military standard in right hand and cradling spear in left arm, leaning on round shield set on helmet. RIC III 742.

Some background description (quoted from a NGC auction for a similar example):

"One of Pius' first actions as emperor was to send Q. Lollius Urbicus, a previous governor of Germania Inferior, to Britain to quell a number of revolts. While most of the sources note the Brigantes (located in Northumbria) as the primary focus of these events, circa AD 143-144, most of his campaigning was against the lowland tribes of Scotland, the Votadini, Selgovae, Damnonii, and Novantae. His campaigns were successfully completed by 144, after which Urbicus and the Legio II Augusta built the Antonine Wall. This issue of sestertii was struck in commemoration of Urbicus' victories, for which Pius was likely acclaimed imperator for the second time".

 

As I said, not a real pretty Sestertius, but commemorating important events in Britannia.

 

I am also posting an as of Septimius Severus issued to commemorate his victories in the frontier of the northern province, military campaigns from which he was never to return to Rome, dying in Britannia.

Please post any coins which relate to the northernmost province of the Roman Empire, Britannia.

 

 

 

Edited August 18 by GERMANICVS
Grammar

[Qcumbor]

Interesting subject

I can contribute with a denarius celebrating Septimius Severus' victory over the Britts

Q

[DCCR]

This might be of interest https://collectingancientcoins.co.uk/roman-coins-about-britain/

[John Conduitt]

1 hour ago, GERMANICVS said:

I believe Roman coins depicting Britannia are popular among Anglosaxon collectors

Yes they are, although her popularity was enhanced when Charles II brought her back. She has featured on British coins ever since. George III added waves and a ship, perhaps due to the popularity of the eponymous song, and the Victorians rather hijacked her, turning her from a figure of subjugation into a celebration of colonialism (and similarly changed the lyrics of the song). So she is a link between the Romans, the beginnings of modern Britain, the rise and fall of the British Empire and today.

Hadrian As, 119

Rome. Bronze, 10.00g. Laureate bust right; IMP CAESAR TRAIANVS HADRIANVS AVG. Britannia seated facing, holding sceptre, large shield to right; PONT MAX T R POT COS III; S C; BRITANNIA in exergue (RIC II.3, 241). 

Antoninus Pius As, 154-155

Britain or Rome. Bronze, 8.63g. Laureate head right; ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P XVIII. Britannia seated left on rock, resting head on hand; arms in background; BRITANNIA - COS IIII around; SC in exergue (RIC III, 934).

Charles II Farthing, 1675

Tower. Copper, 21.5mm, 5.90g. Laureate and cuirassed bust of Charles II left; CAROLVS·A· CAROLO. Britannia seated left, holding spear in left hand, olive branch in raised right hand, shield with Union flag resting at left, date in exergue; BRITAN NIA· (S 3394).

Victoria ‘Bun Head’ Penny, 1865

London. Bronze, 31mm, 9.38g. Laureate and draped bust (2nd portrait); VICTORIA D:G:BRITT:REG:F:D:; toothed border. Redesigned Britannia seated with shield, holding trident, facing right; ONE PENNY; date in exergue (KM 749).

George V Penny, 1911

London. Bronze, 30.8mm, 9.40g. Uncrowned portrait of King George V facing left; GEORGIVS V DEI GRA: BRITT: OMN: REX FID: DEF: IND: IMP: B.M. Seated figure of Britannia right, with trident in left hand and shield bearing the Union flag in right, sea behind, denomination above and date in exergue; ONE PENNY (KM 810). Stamped across the head of the king is the phrase ‘VOTES FOR WOMEN’, the slogan of the suffragette movement.

 

Edited August 18 by John Conduitt

[John Conduitt]

The Romans issued plenty of 'Victory over the British' coins, mostly with Victory rather than Britannia.

Commodus issued this after putting down a serious revolt that erupted in Britain in 184.

Commodus VICT BRIT Commemorative Sestertius, 184

Rome. Bronze, 29.5mm, 22.61g. Laureate head right; M COMMODVS ANTON AVG PIVS BRIT. Victory, winged, draped, seated right on shields, cradling palm frond in right arm, inscribing shield set on knee and held in place by left hand, two shields on ground to left; P M TR P VIIII IMP VII COS IIII P P S C; VICT BRIT in exergue (RIC III, 440).

A trio of coins for Septimius Severus's victory.

Septimius Severus Denarius, 210-211

Rome. Silver, 2.21g. Head with laurel wreath from right; SEVERVS PIVS AVG BRIT. Victory with palm branch and wreath from right; VICTORIAE BRIT (Victory in Britain) (RIC IV, 332).

Caracalla Denarius, 210-213

Rome. Silver, 3.22g. Head with laurel wreath from right; ANTONINVS - PIVS AVG BRIT. Victoria with trophy from right; VICTORIAE BRIT (Victory in Britain) (RIC IV, 231A).
 

Geta Denarius, 209-211

Rome. Silver, 2.95g. Head with laurel wreath from right; P SEPT GETA PIVS - AVG BRIT. Victory with palm branch and wreath from left, head from left; VICTORI-AE BRIT (Victory in Britain) (RIC IV, 92).

[Victor_Clark]

The FTR Galley type referenced a trip Constans made to Britain in A.D. 343, when some Picts were stirring things up.

 

 

Constans

A.D. 348-350

23x24mm     5.5gm

D N CONSTA-NS P F AVG, pearl diademed, draped & cuirassed bust right.

FEL TEMP REPARATIO Emperor in military dress stg. l. in galley with figurehead, holding phoenix on globe and standard with cross on banner; in stern sits Victory, steering ship; ✶ in right field.

In ex. ANΓ

RIC VIII Antioch 124

 

The reason that this issue seems to allude to a visit to Britain is because there are several ancient sources that reference this trip to Britain. The real significance, according to the sources, was that it was made in the winter...a very dangerous time to make this crossing. Libanius has more about the weather which I did not include. This probably happened A.D. 342- 343.

Firmicus Maternus, De errore profanum religionum On the Error of Pagan Religions Chapter 28:6

“You (Constans) have overthrown your enemies, enlarged the Empire, and, to add greater luster to your exploits, altering and scorning the fixed order of the seasons you have done in the winter what was never done before or will be again: you have trodden upon the swollen and raging waters of the Ocean. The wave of a sea already become almost unknown to us has trembled beneath your oars, and the Briton has quailed before the unexpected visage of the Emperor.”

Libanius Oration LIX: Panegyric of Constantius and Constans

137  “It is not right to pass over in silence his voyage to the island of Britain, because many are ignorant about the island.”

141  “If therefore after the island had rebelled, its inhabitants were holding an uprising, and the empire was being plundered, the news had arrived, and he had been seized with rage on hearing it and had thrown the die for the voyage, to report his act of daring would not have been to the credit of his resolve, but the crisis deriving from the rebels would have taken away the greater part of the glory.”

Translation from From Constantine to Julian: Pagan and Byzantine Views A Source History.

Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae Book XX.1

“But in Britain in the tenth consulship of Constantius and the third of Julian raids of the savage tribes of the Scots and the Picts, who had broken the peace that had been agreed upon, were laying waste the regions near the frontiers, so that fear seized the provincials, wearied as they were by a mass of past calamities. And Julian, who was passing the winter in Paris and was distracted amid many cares, was afraid to go to the aid of those across the sea, as Constans once did (as I have told).”

https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Ammian/20*.html

The trip to Britain is even commemorated on a medallion (RIC VIII Rome 338), known from a single example with a reverse of BONONIA OCEANEN. The reverse legend is what the Romans called the city Boulogne-sur-Mer, often just called Boulogne; which was the place the expedition to Britain was launched from. There is even a law in the Theodosian Code issued by Constans from the city in January 343; which gives weight to A.D. 342- 343 for the date of the expedition, since there would be no other reason for Constans to be in Bononia Oceanen.

[CPK]

I like coins from/related to Britain. Probably my coin with the most direct reference is this as of Caracalla:

CARACALLA, AD 198-217
AE As (26.58mm, 10.33g, 6h)
Struck AD 211. Rome mint
Obverse: ANTONINVS PIVS AVG BRIT, laureate head of Caracalla right
Reverse: VICTORIAE BRITTANNICAE, Victory standing right with foot on helmet, inscribing shield set on palm; S C in exergue
References: RIC IV 522a (leg. corr.), RCV 7015
Rough surfaces. Struck in commemoration of the completion of the Severan military campaign in northern Britain.

[DonnaML]

My one ancient coin that even mentions Britannia; I have none that portray her:

Septimius Severus, AR Denarius, Rome Mint AD 210.* Obv. Laureate head right, SEVERVS PIVS - AVG BRIT / Rev. Jupiter standing to left between two small figures of children [representing Caracalla and Geta?], mantle spread behind him, holding long scepter in left hand and thunderbolt in right hand, with child on left holding onto Jupiter’s mantle and child on right holding onto scepter**, PM TR P XVIII - COS III PP. 18x19 mm., 3.06 g. RIC IV-1 240; RSC III Septimius Severus 540 p. 40; BMCRE V, Joint Reign of Septimius Severus, Caracalla, and Geta 25; David Sear, Roman Coins and their Values 1680 p. 180 (3^rd ed. 1981) [not in Sear RCV II (Millennium Edition).] Purchased 16 May 2024 from cgb.fr, Paris.

 

*RSC III dates the use of the BRIT[ANNICVS] title to AD 210-211 (see p. 18), but Sear RCV II, at p. 79, dates its use in combination with TR P XVIII only to AD 210, with coins minted in AD 211 bearing the TR P number XVIIII. 

**RSC III (see p. 18) is the only source I have identifying the two children as Caracalla and Geta (albeit accompanied by a question mark), although I do not have access to RIC IV-1 or to BMCRE V. The identification makes sense in light of the elevation of Geta to the status of Augustus in the previous year, AD 209, when this reverse first appeared (without the BRIT title on the obverse and bearing the number TR P XVII; see RIC IV-1 226, RSC II 525, Sear RCV II 6345). Furthermore, the fact that one child holds Jupiter’s mantle and the other holds Jupiter’s scepter can reasonably be interpreted as representing the new status of both Caracalla and Geta as joint successors to Septimius Severus’s throne. I do not see the apparent presentation of the two children as infants or young children on the reverse as an obstacle to this identification, even though Caracalla and Geta were already 21 and 20 years old in AD 209: their small size standing next to Jupiter could simply represent their relative status compared to the chief Roman deity (and compared to their father), rather than their ages.   

Some of my British coins depicting Britannia:

England, AE Farthing, Charles II 1675. Obv. Laureate bust left, CAROLVS • A • – CAROLO /  Rev. Britannia seated left holding spray (flowering branch) in upraised right hand, with left hand holding transverse spear and resting on shield, BRITAN – NIA •; in exergue, 1675. 5.69 g.  S. 3394. Purchased June 17, 1999 from CNG [Classical Numismatic Group, Inc., Lancaster, PA/London, England, historicalcoins.com], ex Web Auction # 115832746. 

George III AE Cartwheel Twopence 1797, Soho Mint. Obv. Laureate and draped bust right, GEORGIUS III D : G • REX / Rev. Britannia seated left on rock in sea, holding spray (flowering branch) in upraised right hand, with left hand holding transverse trident and resting on shield; ship on horizon to left; BRITANNIA above, date 1797 below (Legends incuse on raised rim). 41 mm., 56.1 g. S. 3776. Purchased from Karl Stephens Inc., March 1986.

George III AE Penny 1806, S. 3780 (variety with no incuse hair curl by tie knot), by Conrad Heinrich Küchler, Soho Mint. Obv. Short-haired, laureate, and draped bust right, GEORGIUS III • D: G • REX., date 1806 below / Rev. Seated figure of Britannia facing left, with olive branch in raised right hand, left hand holding trident and resting on shield bearing Union flag, sea behind with ship to left, legend BRITANNIA above; the word SOHO engraved below lower right of shield, at 45 degrees. 34 mm., 19.27 g. Purchased from Noonans Mayfair (formerly Dix Noonan Webb), London, UK, Auction 271, 4 Apr. 2023, Lot 415.

George III AE Halfpenny 1806, S. 3781, by Conrad Heinrich Küchler, Soho Mint. Obv. Short-haired, laureate, and draped bust right, GEORGIUS III • D : G • REX., date 1806 below / Rev. Seated figure of Britannia facing left, with olive branch in raised right hand, left hand holding trident and resting on shield bearing Union flag, sea behind with ship to left, legend BRITANNIA above; the word SOHO engraved below lower right of shield, at 45 degrees. 29 mm., 9.52 g. Purchased from Paul J. Bosco, New York, NY, 1999. 

A modern silver proof Britannia bullion coin:

Elizabeth II 1998 AR Proof Britannia bullion coin (1 oz. Silver, .958 fineness, face value 2 Pounds), in green case of issue. 40 mm., 32.45 g. Obv. Crowned bust right (4th portrait by Ian Rank-Broadley), ELIZABETH II D G – REG FID DEF around, denomination 2 POUNDS below / Rev. Britannia, helmeted, standing facing upon a rock in the sea, head left, her right hand grasping a trident and her left hand resting on a shield and holding an olive branch, her hair and gown streaming left in wind; ONE OUNCE FINE SILVER - BRITANNIA 1998; NATHAN beneath rocks (for Philip Nathan, designer of reverse). S. 4500 (ill.). Mintage 2,168. [First year of design; second year of 1 oz. silver bullion type with 2-pound face value.]

[John Conduitt]

31 minutes ago, Victor_Clark said:

The FTR Galley type referenced a trip Constans made to Britain in A.D. 343, when some Picts were stirring things up.

 

 

Constans

A.D. 348-350

23x24mm     5.5gm

D N CONSTA-NS P F AVG, pearl diademed, draped & cuirassed bust right.

FEL TEMP REPARATIO Emperor in military dress stg. l. in galley with figurehead, holding phoenix on globe and standard with cross on banner; in stern sits Victory, steering ship; ✶ in right field.

In ex. ANΓ

RIC VIII Antioch 124

 

The reason that this issue seems to allude to a visit to Britain is because there are several ancient sources that reference this trip to Britain. The real significance, according to the sources, was that it was made in the winter...a very dangerous time to make this crossing. Libanius has more about the weather which I did not include. This probably happened A.D. 342- 343.

Firmicus Maternus, De errore profanum religionum On the Error of Pagan Religions Chapter 28:6

“You (Constans) have overthrown your enemies, enlarged the Empire, and, to add greater luster to your exploits, altering and scorning the fixed order of the seasons you have done in the winter what was never done before or will be again: you have trodden upon the swollen and raging waters of the Ocean. The wave of a sea already become almost unknown to us has trembled beneath your oars, and the Briton has quailed before the unexpected visage of the Emperor.”

Libanius Oration LIX: Panegyric of Constantius and Constans

137  “It is not right to pass over in silence his voyage to the island of Britain, because many are ignorant about the island.”

141  “If therefore after the island had rebelled, its inhabitants were holding an uprising, and the empire was being plundered, the news had arrived, and he had been seized with rage on hearing it and had thrown the die for the voyage, to report his act of daring would not have been to the credit of his resolve, but the crisis deriving from the rebels would have taken away the greater part of the glory.”

Translation from From Constantine to Julian: Pagan and Byzantine Views A Source History.

Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae Book XX.1

“But in Britain in the tenth consulship of Constantius and the third of Julian raids of the savage tribes of the Scots and the Picts, who had broken the peace that had been agreed upon, were laying waste the regions near the frontiers, so that fear seized the provincials, wearied as they were by a mass of past calamities. And Julian, who was passing the winter in Paris and was distracted amid many cares, was afraid to go to the aid of those across the sea, as Constans once did (as I have told).”

https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Ammian/20*.html

The trip to Britain is even commemorated on a medallion (RIC VIII Rome 338), known from a single example with a reverse of BONONIA OCEANEN. The reverse legend is what the Romans called the city Boulogne-sur-Mer, often just called Boulogne; which was the place the expedition to Britain was launched from. There is even a law in the Theodosian Code issued by Constans from the city in January 343; which gives weight to A.D. 342- 343 for the date of the expedition, since there would be no other reason for Constans to be in Bononia Oceanen.

Yes this is interesting in that it seems any rebellion in Britain was already over before Constans appeared, and his trip may have been more PR stunt than military campaign. In the absence of actual fighting much is made of his victory over the winter sea, the crossing of which was a dangerous thing to do (at least for those used to the Mediterranean) and not something other emperors did. But I assume the reason emperors didn't usually cross the Channel in winter was because they were invading, and bringing a lot more than 100 soldiers - they sensibly planned campaigns for the spring and summer, when supplies in Britain would be more abundant.

[Limes]

Fantastic issues that indeed commemorate historical events, @GERMANICVS! 

I have three relevant coins to share. First, not the prettiest, but in my opnion a fantastic issue of Claudius. 

Second, an issue of Antoninus Pius that corresponds to the text of CNG you quote. Britannia is not mentioned on this issue however.

A coin of Commodus, with the title 'Brit[annicus]'. 

 

 

 

[Limes]

2 hours ago, DCCR said:

This might be of interest https://collectingancientcoins.co.uk/roman-coins-about-britain/

Thanks for the link, interesting and useful website. 

Edited August 18 by Limes

[expat]

My only coin with a link between Emperor and Britannia. 

Commodus, AR Denarius, 187-188 AD. M COMM ANT P FEL AVG BRIT, laureate head right / P M TR P XIII IMP VIII COS V P P, Hercules naked, standing front, holding patera and club. RSC 534; RIC 162. 17 mm, 2,91 g