More than Money: Coins in Iron Age Britain

Thanks to a grant from the University of Oxford, we led a Public Engagement with Research (PER) project. The introduction of coins is seen as a marker of change in Iron Age society in Britain. It is easy to see these early coins as equivalent to today's money, but current research challenges this assumption. Through the resources created by the More than Money project, you can learn how coins were made, the history of their use in Britain via a factsheet, and explore different Iron Age coin iconography through various imaging techniques.

The project team included: Courtney Nimura (PI, Oxford), Peter Hommel (Liverpool), Rowan Guthrie (Ashmolean Museum), Jade Whitlam (PER Liaison, Oxford), Peter Walters (Engineering Sciences, Oxford), and Molly Masterson (DPhil student, Oxford). This website was created by Courtney Nimura and Molly Masterson.

Origins

Coins have been made and used for a long time. They were invented by the Lydians in Asia Minor in the late 7th century (700–600) BC, almost 3,000 years ago. In Britain, the earliest coins came a few hundred years later, during the later Iron Age (400 BC–AD 100). Coins were first imported from France (then called Gaul) around 150 BC and were shortly after, locally produced.

What is the Iron Age?

The Iron Age is what archaeologists refer to as the last period of prehistory. In this period, people began making objects out of iron and the very earliest examples of writing appears, which occurs on coins. Throughout the world, the Iron Age occurs at unique times, as people began using iron at different periods.

In Britain, the Iron Age began around 800 BC (2800 years ago) and lasted until around AD 100. During this period, people lived in roundhouses on small farms, but also created large enclosed areas, often on top of hills, called hillforts. The countries around Europe we know today were divided up into smaller areas controlled by different groups of people, traditionally referred to as tribes.

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Early Celtic Art

Spreading from Ireland to the Czech Republic, Early Celtic Art was a new and distinct form of art across Europe. This is an electrum Torc, a necklace, that was made in Iron Age, slightly before the time when coins were minted. ©Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, AN 1927.6660

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Roundhouses

Roundhouses were the typical dwellings of Iron Age people in Britain. Unlike houses in continental Europe (where houses were typically long and rectangular), the roundhouse has become a characteristic structure for this period of prehistory in Britain.

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Hillforts

Along with roundhouses, hillforts became another typcial construction within Iron Age Britain (especially in the south). Huge ramparts, earthworks, and complex gate systems were used to create large spaces used for a variety of purposes.

Coins in Britain

Coins are rarely found in the settlements where people lived. This has made archaeologists think that they weren’t used as common, everyday money. Some people believe they were used as payment to the people living in Britain to secure alliances or military aid. Starting in the 2nd century BC, people in Iron Age Britain began minting their own gold coins, most likely first occurring in the south. From there, other regions soon began minting coins and implementing their own styles and iconographies. Learn even more about the history of coins here.

Step 1: Make the Mould

Clay pellet moulds such as this one would have been used to make the coin shapes for the coins. Few are found at archaeological sites in Britain and this example is a modern replica.

Step 2: Make the Pellets

Bits of gold, silver, and bronze were placed in the pellet mould and then heated to high temperatures. This melted the metal and allowed the pellets to be the same size and shape.

Step 2: Make the Pellets

After firing, pellets would look like this. These pellets are the size and shape of a coin but do not have any imagery yet and are called blanks.

Step 3: Make the Die

Coin dies were made of metal and had ornamentation engraved on them. They would have been hand engraved by a specialised, skilled person. One image would be used for the front (obverse) and another image for the back (reverse).

Step 4: Strike the Coins

Coins were made by placing the blanks between the two dies and striking it with a hammer. The coin is finally finished!

The Finished Product

These replicas demonstrate how finished coins would appear. Notice that not every coin is identical because of variances in the ways in which blanks were struck between the two dies!

The End of the Iron Age Coins:

The Romans

In AD 43, the Romans successfully invaded Britain, led by the Roman emperor Claudius. Shortly after, people in Britain stopped minting their own coins, but they continued to use the coins they had been minting in previous decades. By AD 100, all Iron Age coins were no longer circulated.

This Roman Republican silver Denarius was found in Yorkshire. You can examine this coin in more detail through the 3D model and the high-resolution images below.