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Auction: 1009 - Ancient, English & Foreign Coins, Commemorative Medals & Numismatic Books
Lot: 432

Carausius (287-293), AR Denarius, 3.54g, uncertain mint, c.287-289, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right, imp caravsivs pf avg, rev. expecta[te veni], Britannia, standing right, holding wreath and clasping hand of Carausius, standing left in military dress, holding spear or sceptre, an altar between them (RIC --; RSC 36; Shiel 9), dark tone, good very fine, extremely rare Estimate £ 2,200-2,600 Found near Shenstone, Staffordshire in 2009 (Portable Antiquities Scheme Detailed Report WMID-02BDE6). This variety, known by only one other specimen, has no mint mark rsr, as one would expect, has Britannia holding a wreath instead of an ensign or trident, and has an altar between her and Carausius. The reverse type recalls Virgil´s Aeneid, ´quibus Hector ab oris expectate venis?´ (from what shores do you come, Hector, the expected one?) Aeneid ii, 283. Thus does Carausius announce his arrival on what was probably an accession donative to the troops.

Sold for
£2,200