Before I received my copy, I was not sure what to expect; it arrived, a slimmish volume of 96 pages, riffling through it I was impressed, reading it I was delighted.
Andrew Brown has drawn on the database of the PAS and found fifty coins, hoards and slightly more quirky numismatic items to build a succinct and very readable summary of Roman coin use (and abuse!) in Britain, from pre-invasion times to the aftermath of Imperial withdrawal from the Province.
In seven chapters he covers the PAS contribution to Roman numismatics in Britain, mints, denominations, coin use, counterfeiting and imitation, altered coins, and the end of Roman coinage in Britain.
The cover says “50 Coin Finds”, but each find selected as a headline for the text is backed up by numerous photographs of other coins from the database to help illustrate the points being made. The selection of the “50 finds” is very clever, particularly as the book must be largely aimed at detectorists and field walkers, yes, there are items that most would regard as the find of a lifetime, but there are also middling, poor and damaged pieces emphasising what can be learnt from all finds and, hence, the importance of making the effort to have them properly recorded.
Where appropriate, chapters end with recommendations for further reading, a feature I particularly like, though expecting readers to shell out around £1000 for the ten volumes of “The Roman Imperial Coinage” might be a little optimistic, but worth doing if you can, I couldn’t get by without my set!
We all have our bugbears (mine is the use of the term ‘mint mark’ in describing mediaeval coins, where ‘initial mark’ is more appropriate and descriptive!), Andrew Brown’s appears to be the word ‘antoninianus’, so called after Caracalla (official name M. Aurelius Antoninus) in whose reign the denomination was introduced, his strong preference is ‘radiate’, to my mind this is unimportant as neither would have been used in ancient times, I prefer antoninianus quite simply because it has become the established term over many years.
All in all, an excellent book and a good read. I strongly recommend it to any reader who wants to know more about Roman coinage in Britain, and to any detectorist who wishes to see what her/his wonderful hobby has contributed to the historical record.
My review in "The Searcher" magazine, No. 430, June 2021 ( )