Find of the Year
The silver denarius of Carausius, found at Risley
Face of the rebel ‘Emperor of the North’ MEGHAN KING, Portable Antiquities Scheme Finds Liaison Officer for Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, describes her ‘Find of the Year’
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ne of the most interesting finds from the past year found in Derbyshire and recorded under the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) is this silver denarius of Carausius, discovered by a metal detectorist in Risley, near Sandiacre. The coin dates to the Roman period, between AD 286 and 293 , and depicts the ‘rebel’ emperor Carausius; the complete PAS record can be found here at DENO7EB4B2 (https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/ id/1008481). Marcus Aurelius Mausaeus Carausius was a Roman military commander under Maximian and Diocletian; he commanded a fleet sent by the emperors to fight the Franks and Saxons. However, in AD 286, Carausius was accused of taking pirate spoil for himself and when the emperors sought to punish him, he made his escape to Britain. Once in Britain he declared himself ‘Emperor of the North’ and began gathering and training local citizens to help bolster his forces. Diocletian and Maximian failed in their attempts to suppress Carausius’s reign and by AD 290 the two emperors were forced to recognize his command of Britain and northern Gaul. This recognised reign however was short lived, as in AD 293 Allectus, Carausius’s minister of finance, assassinated him and assumed control. This relatively short rule of a breakaway emperor makes coins of Carausius especially interesting and important finds recorded through the PAS database, which are constantly adding to the catalogue of known Carausius coins. This silver denarius of Carausius depicts the emperor’s bust on the obverse with the legend IMP CARAVSIVS P F A, while the RENOVATIO AVG reverse type shows the wolf and twins, the image of Romulus and Remus which is commonly associated with the founding of Rome. This is only the third Carausius coin known with this
reverse legend, and the first found with this particular obverse legend. Dr Sam Moorhead, the PAS National Finds Adviser for Iron Age and Roman Coins at the British Museum, is currently working on a new Roman Imperial coinage volume for Carausius and Allectus, in which this coin will be featured. This coin also links to a case falling under the Treasure Act from 2007, which consisted of two gold aurei of Carausius. Gold coins of Carausius are extremely rare and this case, found in the Derbyshire Dales, increased the known corpus of gold Carausius coins to only 25 coins. This demonstrates the importance of recording finds through the PAS and the valuable knowledge that those finds can contribute to the wider archaeological community. The complete PAS records for these coins can be found here DENO-651C91 (https://finds.org. uk/database/artefacts/record/id/203507) and DENO64DAE1 (https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/ id/203503). If you would like to find out more about the Portable Antiquities Scheme or have found any items that you would like recorded, please contact Meghan King, Finds Liaison Officer for Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, on 01332 641903 or at meghan@derbymuseums.org.
The two gold aurei of Carausius, found in the Derbyshire Dales
2022 | ACID
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