Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1913-02-13
UNCOVERED BY SEA.

Numismatics is not half as dull as
the term, which is used to describe the
science of coins, might quite lead one
to expect
Coins, when almost all other EVIL
dence is lacking, will sometimes pro-
vide a clue to the solution of historical
problems, and in the fitting together,
piece by piece, of these puzzles of the
past the trnc nunlismatis. or coin col
lector, finds his greatest enjoyment.
Far from being therefore a mere hunt
ing for and boarding of the specimens
of a bygone coinage, ii is often a dis
tnct step in the unraVelng of many
a historical tangle. One of the most
prolific hunting grounds for early coins
is the long stretch of shore line that
sweeps from the little Sussex village
of Wittering to Medmerry Farm. Just
opposite looms the coast line of the
Isle of Wight; to the east is the low
lying promontory of Selsey Bill. and
away to the west lies Portsmouth and
Haling island.
Before the coming of the Roman to
Britain as early as $50 B. c. there
seems to have existed an ancient COIN
age of an uninscribed pattern. while
an inscribed design ef coin was pro-
badly in use by the year so b, c. or a
few years before the coming of Julius
Caesar, and most likely continued in
vogue until the invasion of Plautius in
43 A. d. during the reign Of the EN-
peror Claudius.
In 1878 a great find of gold coins of
the Gallo Roman period was made on
the beach between Wittering and
Mcdmerry Farm, numbering, it is said
900 in all. Those of them that were of
the uninscribed variety We're it is sup
posed. coined by British moneyers of
the pre- Roman time, while the in
scribed kind. bearing Roman charae-
tiers, were of date subsequent to
Caesars visit to Britain, but prior to
the late invasion and campaign of Au-
lus Plautius in the days of Claudius. 1t
is generally assumed that on the ar
rival of Plautius, who disembarked his
DICTIONARIES hereabouts, the Britons in
the neighborhoed buried their treasure
at some safe spot with a view to re-
covering ii at a later date. But this
invarion to Plautius was far more
serious campaign than Caesars oper-
ations had been 80 years before, al
though it is sometimes thought that
the Roman conquest of Britain took
only year instead of over a century
of gradual annexation. However this
may be- the hidden coins appear to
have remained undisturbed till 1878.
Just then the sea in the course of its
constant coast erosion reached the
area where the coins were buried, and
uncovered them. After the conquest of
Claudius' reign. and when Britain had
settled down as a Roman province,
communication with the continent in
creased and commerce grew. 1t was
then found that the ancient British
gold coinage was not a very conven-
lent medium of exchange and a lesser
coinage of the regular Roman type
was introduced. Coins of the reigns
of Hsdrian, Marcus Aurelius, Diocle-
tan, Commodus. Domitian, Trajan and
Vespasian have been found in this
same locality.
1t was after the conquest of Claude
us that the figure of Britannia first
appeared on the British coinage. On
the reverse side of Roman coins it was
usual to show the figure of Rome seat
ed and armed, while in the case of the
coinage of a province or a colony this
same figure was shown but unarmed
the coin bearing as we'll the name of
the province in question. This was
the design adopted for the Romano
British coinage. Years later, in the
reign of Charles II. when a copper
coinage was needed. this old design
was reverted to and was continued UNI
til the Georgian period, when a helmet
was added to the figure, and the spear
held by the armed figure ON the Ro-
man coinage proper was then ex-
changed for a trident. This is how
Britannia found her way on to the
English penny. 1t would be interest
ing to know how many out of every
hundred people who handle the mod
ern English coinage could describe the
origin of this design.-London Special
to Christian Science Monitor