tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3137246730421866659.post7393285737676170492..comments2023-10-09T06:54:04.099-06:00Comments on Past Times and Present Tensions: The La Tène religion of the Celtic elite ― part 19: Interpreting Celtic coin iconographyJohn Hooker FSAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10001080340384925879noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3137246730421866659.post-72766830933377955812014-08-04T17:47:57.573-06:002014-08-04T17:47:57.573-06:00Hi Trefor, They only seem to have made coins from ...Hi Trefor, They only seem to have made coins from about 57 to 55 BC, Although all tribes had a large number of druids, the Coriosolites would likely have hired the best artists to cut their dies because they were not an important tribe. While this sounds illogical, the greater the desperation, the greater the displays of wealth or over-the-top sacrifices. Such classes of smiths were extremely high status and would also have been of the druid class.<br /><br />The Brittany hoards are numerous but mostly very small and of Gallic war period. The largest hoard by far had only 1,756 coins, and only four hoards had more than 80 coins.The Jersey hoards are massive, with many examples of "foreign" coins and are later (by how much is debated). Yet the Jersey hoard contents show no greater signs of circulation than the Brittany hoards and no more wear. This indicates that the Jersey hoards are accumulated small hoards. Evidence from Le Petit Celland in Normandy shows that a small group of people were attacked at an uncompleted and abandoned hillfort where they had constructed a gate without any knowledge of how it should have been built. The gate burned and fell on them, their Coriosolite and Unelli coins and pottery of a type also associated with Coriosolite coins in Jersey and Hengistbury, Dorset.<br /><br />The small, primary hoards might have just been stored wealth or they served as security for livestock loans. At some point, though,many of them were gathered up and taken to Jersey for rerouting to the Durotriges cupellation hearths at Hengistbury where the silver could be extracted. Along this timeline, the Durotriges were debasing their silver coins and that ended up with a cast copper coinage. At about the same time, (10-15 AD), the Coriosolite mainland port was destroyed by the Romans. Hengistbury had been cut off from Roman trade after Caesar left England.<br /><br />Best,<br /><br />JohnJohn Hooker FSAhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10001080340384925879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3137246730421866659.post-14913591747073372722014-08-04T15:39:36.507-06:002014-08-04T15:39:36.507-06:00Does this suggest that the Coriosolites were a dru...Does this suggest that the Coriosolites were a druidic tribe that stored its wealth as coins / tokens which could be used as devotional offerings or as payment for mercenaries in times of need? (e.g. defence against the advancing Romans)<br />TreforAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com