Long Table 163. The Silver Coinage of Carausius (AD 286-93)
Channel: American Numismatic Society
Date: 2023-11-20

Sam Moorhead, who recently retired as the National Finds Adviser for Ancient Coins in the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) at the British Museum, will present a complete reappraisal of Carausius’ silver coinage. In 1977, there were around 150 silver denarii of Carausius. With the advent of metal detecting, this total has increased to over 450, many of which were recorded on the PAS database, and Moorehead’s forthcoming Roman Imperial Coinage (RIC) volume includes an enlarged number of types with 265 entries. Recent metallurgical analyses provide us with a much better understanding of the silver content of the coins, as they have a higher purity than any other coins since the 1st century AD. The new RIC catalog enables us to understand how the silver coinage fit into a system with gold and base-silver coins, which were mostly struck at the outset of Carausius’ reign.