It is important to consider the general background of coin finds in Wales before the patterns of Iron Age and early Roman coin finds are examined in detail. This is because we must be aware of and appreciate the overall picture in order to assess the significance of distribution patterns observed for particular coins or coinages. For example, if Pembrokeshire produces a concentration of coin finds of a particular period, is that because south-western Wales always produces more coins than other areas or is the concentration limited to coins of that period alone? Therefore, taking account of the numismatic background will result in interpretations of more localised patterns that are more reliable and consequently more meaningful.
The map on this page shows the distribution of all find spots of Iron Age and Roman coins in Wales. This records only where coins have been recovered and does not, at this stage, take into account the number of coins found in individual locations.
However, it is immediately apparent that the distribution of coin finds in Wales shows concentrations on the coastal areas, particularly in the southeast and north, as well as along the river valleys that dissect the Welsh uplands (the two finds in the Bristol Channel are groups of coins whose provenances are only recorded as 'Glamorgan' and 'Wales', not shipwrecks).
It is also important to draw attention to areas where coins have not been recorded as the absence of material culture can be as significant as its presence.
In Wales very few coins have been recovered from the highlands (above 240m) as well as some coastal regions, for example the Lleyn Peninsula on the north-western tip of mainland Wales.
This Ale Scavo R-Type silver unit of the Eceni is unusual for two reasons. Firstly, the obverse legend reads ALI, instead of AL or ALE. Secondly, there is a large letter R above the rump of the horse. What does it stand for? We could be mistaken, but we believe that it probably signifies Rex. The Ale Fe Scavo coin on our March List 93 (no.27) looked like it had the word RE[X] under SCAVO. So it seems to make sense that R is for Rex, particularly if there isn't a REX on this coin
None of the tribes that inhabited the area of modern Wales produced their own coins and coinage, therefore, was not part of the indigenous culture before the Roman conquest. Consequently, all Iron Age coins that are found in Wales were imported from other, coin-producing, parts of Britain and the continent.
Only 35 Iron Age coins have been recovered from Wales. This is a surprisingly small number, particularly when compared to the quantities found beyond the River Severn in Herefordshire, Gloucestershire and northern Somerset (the settlement at Weston-under-Penyard, Ariconium, has produced more Iron Age coins than the whole of Wales).
The distribution shows a strong concentration in south Wales, principally in the south-eastern part of the country.
The majority of Welsh Iron Age finds are of gold coins, all of which were found as single finds (with the possible exception of the three gold coins from Glamorgan that could be a hoard, see the table below).
, Landovery (1 silver coin with 4 mixed Roman coins) and Llanfaes (1 bronze coin of the Carnutes found together with a Roman coin)[img]http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/share/images/image-149959-full.gif)
Almost half of the Iron Age coins from Wales were struck by the Dobunni ('Western' issues), a tribe whose territory stretched eastwards from the River Severn from Gloucestershire. On the other hand, coins of the tribes of southern and eastern England are relatively rare from Wales, as are continental issues (Welsh finds include single coins of the Turones, Carnutes and Aedui). The absence of coins from the Hertfordshire / Essex area is puzzling given how Roman authors describe events in the years after the invasion of Britain in AD 43. Tacitus describes how Caratacus, king of the Catuvellauni, fled to Wales where he continued to lead the resistance against Roman attempts to subdue the local tribes until his final defeat and capture in 51. However, the presence of Caratacus and his followers, who came from a coin-producing tribe, has left no discernible trace in the archaeological record of Wales and it remains an open question whether or not Caratacus brought any coins at all with him during his flight to the Welsh tribes (or indeed whether the Welsh tribes would have known what to do with coins if he had).
A noticeable feature of the distribution of Iron Age coins in southeast Wales is the concentration between the rivers Usk and Wye. The native tribe in this area was known to the Romans as the Silures and there has been some debate about where the boundary between the Silures and the Dobunni to the east actually lay.
While the pattern of Iron Age coin finds in this area is certainly more similar to the situation in Gloucestershire, this should not be taken as evidence that Dobunnic influence extended beyond the Wye (or even that a boundary in the modern sense of the word existed between these tribes in the later Iron Age). In any event, the Wye, or the hills above the west bank of the river, apparently acted as an effective barrier to the spread of Iron Age coins, except in small numbers, into Wales.
The impermeability of the Wye and the Welsh highlands suggests a political or cultural rejection of coinage that perhaps indicates different exchange systems on either side of the coin using / non-coin using border.
