medallion

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Object Type
Museum number: 1967,0901.1
Description: Copper alloy medallion. (whole); Laureate bust of Carausius, left, wearing consular mantle and holding eagle-tipped sceptre. (obverse); Victory in two-horse chariot or biga, right. (reverse)
State
Authority
Cultures/periods
Production date: 287
Production place: Minted in: London (England)
Findspot: Excavated/Findspot: England (probably)
Materials
Dimensions: Die-axis: 6 o'clock; Diameter: 35 millimetres; Weight: 21.61 grammes
$Inscriptions
Curator's comments: The consular portrait suggests that the consulship was one of the Roman institutions copied by Carausius. For the explanation of the reverse exergue inscription see G. de la Bedoyere, 'The Golden Age of Roman Britain' (Stroud 1999), pp. 34-5. Interestingly this phrase was used to describe the restoration of the monarchy in England, 1660, with the reign of Charles II. (See 1870,0514.306).
Bibliographic references: Toynbee 1986 / Roman Medallions (Pl.XXX no. 4); PCR / Principal coins of the Romans: Volume I: The Republic c. 290 - 31 BC; Volume II: The Principate 31 BC - AD 296; Volume III: The Dominate AD 294 - 498. (1129)
Location: On display (G68/dc2/p4)
Subjects: emperor/empress; allegory/personification; charioteer/chariot; classical deity
Associated names: Named in inscription & portrayed: Carausius; Named in inscription & portrayed: Nike/Victoria/Victory
Acquisition name
Acquisition date: 1935
Acquisition notes: Not registered until 1967. Once part of a collection formed in the north of England - see British Museum Quarterly, vol. 37, 1973, 1.
Department: Coins and Medals
Registration number: 1967,0901.1

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