A study of roman gold coins found its Britain and their implications

Abstract

My research has centred around two objects, namely a study of the longevity of aurei and a consideration of the economy, political and social life of Roman Britain in so far as this can be deduced from the evidence of gold coin distribution. The results have been concrete enough in the first category to justify the claim that aurei circulated for many years as a rule. Results in the second and more diverse section of my thesis have necessarily led to more tenuous and debatable conclusions and opinions. It has been possible to collect statistics on the distribution of Roman gold coins in Britain from which I have deduced a series of theories regarding the economic, political and social spheres of Roman Britain at various stages in the province’s history. Hoards and site-finds have been studied in isolation and together in order to gain all possible information. Geographical distribution seems fairly even over the whole country with a moderate bias towards bulk-volume in the south-east. North-south differentials exist at all periods and appear to fluctuate with military movements and economic growth and decline, both of which are of prime importance in studying this distribution pattern, I have also considered gold coins from Ireland and gold pieces used for jewellery. These two topics form brief appendices to the main theme of the thesis and serve to illustrate something of its width. A final appendix discusses the use of numismatic evidence by Sir George Macdonald and evaluates some of his methods.