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Source Description
Cunobeline is mentioned by various Roman historians. He was a powerful ruler, the son of Tasciovanus. He is known to have had one brother, Epaticcus, and possibly another, Sego, as well as two sons, Caratacus and Togodumnus. The history of this ancient time is very confused, particularly over family relationships; some of the sons and brothers may well have been sons-in-law and brothers-in-law. Cunobeline had his capital at Camulodunum, now Colchester. The workmanship of this extremely rare piece is remarkable in many ways. Study of the obverse shows that at least one of the V-shaped ornaments referred to by scholars is traditionally described as "heart" shape. In fact it is the little ivy leaf frequently found on Roman coins. The two well-executed, three-dimensional spirited horses on the reverse are unusual. One such animal is normally all the engraver of the period usually attempts. The wheel of the lost chariot is still present and the neat design of a leaf as an ornament is interesting. All this design detail serves to crowd off all but a few letters of the ruler's name. The CAMVL on the obverse makes this one of the earliest British native coins to state its mint town origin.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
144345
label
Cunobeline Stater: Tablet on Wreath (reverse); Two Horses and Wheel (reverse)
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
144345
contentType
object
title
Cunobeline Stater: Tablet on Wreath (reverse); Two Horses and Wheel (reverse)
description
Cunobeline is mentioned by various Roman historians. He was a powerful ruler, the son of Tasciovanus. He is known to have had one brother, Epaticcus, and possibly another, Sego, as well as two sons, Caratacus and Togodumnus. The history of this ancient time is very confused, particularly over family relationships; some of the sons and brothers may well have been sons-in-law and brothers-in-law. Cunobeline had his capital at Camulodunum, now Colchester. The workmanship of this extremely rare piece is remarkable in many ways. Study of the obverse shows that at least one of the V-shaped ornaments referred to by scholars is traditionally described as "heart" shape. In fact it is the little ivy leaf frequently found on Roman coins. The two well-executed, three-dimensional spirited horses on the reverse are unusual. One such animal is normally all the engraver of the period usually attempts. The wheel of the lost chariot is still present and the neat design of a leaf as an ornament is interesting. All this design detail serves to crowd off all but a few letters of the ruler's name. The CAMVL on the obverse makes this one of the earliest British native coins to state its mint town origin.
date
c. 10–40 CE
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q79921416
genreSpecific
Coins
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Diameter: 1.8 cm (11/16 in.)
cul
England
accession
1969.152
Source extras
tec
gold
tombstone
Cunobeline Stater: Tablet on Wreath (reverse); Two Horses and Wheel (reverse), c. 10–40 CE. England. Gold; diameter: 1.8 cm (11/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Norweb Collection, 1969.152
collection
MED - Numismatics
inscriptions
inscription
CAMVL
inscription
[CVNO]BELI[N]
inscription_remark
reverse
didYouKnow
Cunobeline's name is derived from Common Brittonic Cunobelinos, which translates to "strong as a dog."
citations
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art, and Emery May Norweb. English Gold Coins, Ancient to Modern Times, On Loan to the Cleveland Museum of Art from the Norweb Collection. 1968.
page_number
pp. 11
citation
Emery May Norweb Collection (Cleveland, Ohio), Emery May Norweb, C. E. Blunt, F. Elmore Jones, and R. P. Mack. Collection of Ancient British, Romano-British and English Coins. London: Spink, 1971.
page_number
pp. 1, 17-18
citation
Fliegel, Stephen. "A Little-Known Celtic Stone Head." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 77, no. 3 (1990): 82-103.
page_number
Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 88
creditline
The Norweb Collection
updatedAt
2026-05-29 07:24:43.710000
sourceId
144345
dept
Medieval Art
coll
MED - Numismatics
med
gold
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
4955655a1aac4575