Silver .0413 .1770
Copper .8414 .7954
Tin .1166 .0265
Iron .0005 .0009
Gold .0002 .0002
------ ------
1.0000 1.0000
"The weight of the larger pieces ranges from 80 to 105 grains, and that
of the smaller coins is about 25 grains."
It will be observed from the above analysis how considerably the
proportions of the white metals, as silver and tin, vary in these coins,
and this variation, as regards metallic composition, is so universal
that amongst a large number in the same "find" you will even, on
cleaning the coins, see some of them look as if made of silver, and the
colour vary, until you reach some that appear hardly better than wholly
of copper. It would be very interesting to know where the metal or ore
for these coinages was procured from. There must have been a natural
mixture of most of the metals.
I have looked through a "find" of more than 200 Jersey Gaulish coins,
which are in the possession of R. R. Lempriere, Esq. They were turned up
by the plough on his manor of Rozel; and whatever covering had enclosed
them had either gone to decay, or become broken up, as they were quite
loose. He had cleaned a few of them. Even to the eye the metallic
composition varied greatly--some being of the colour of silver, and some
lowering to that of copper. In this lot there were but two of the
smaller size of 25 grains, and I think that proportion may perhaps give
some indication as to the relative rarity of the two coins; for at a
rough estimate one seems to meet only about one in a hundred, which is
of the smaller kind. The larger Gaulish coins are common; large "finds"
of the types formerly used in the Channel Islands having been made on
the adjacent mainland of Normandy and Brittany, and also on the south
coast of England.
Sir John Evans mentions (page 128) the hoard at Mount Batten, near
Plymouth (_Numismatic Journal_, Vol. I., page 224), and that in the
_Arch. Assoc. Journal_, Vol. III., page 62, is an account of a find of
them at Avranches, written by Mr. C. Roach Smith; also in 1820 nearly
1,000 were discovered in Jersey; and previously, in 1787, there had been
a find in that island. The manor of Rozel seems to have been most rich
in furnishing specimens. In addition to the number in possession of the
seigneur of Rozel, as before referred to, there are from that district
of the island collections at the St. Helier Museum, and with Lady
Marett, Wm. Nicolle, Esq., Dr. Le Cronier, E. C. Cable, Esq., and
others.
They are often turned up in agricultural work, and many farmers possess
a few, but will not part with them, nor with their stone or bronze
spear-heads, arrow-heads, axe-heads, and jars, as there is often some
superstition that it is unlucky to let these be sold away from the
neighbourhood where they were dug up.
Full descriptions of some "finds" are given in the annual issues of the
_Societe Jersiaise_, together with illustrations. The illustrations
differ little as regards the types shown from those given in the works
of Evans and Hawkins. There is, however, one point to be observed that
is interesting and noteworthy--_i.e._, Gaulish and Roman coins have been
found enclosed together in the same urn, thus indicating that the two
coinages had concurrently come into the possession of the same person
before being hidden. This appears proof of concurrent circulation. The
small urn found by Mr. George Amy, of Rozel, close to the spot where the
landslip occurred in 1875, is in the Jersey Museum. It is, of course,
hand-made pottery, and burnt nearly black. It contained both Gaulish and
Roman coins--the former, both of _billon_ and silver, being mainly of
the smaller or more rare sort, and each weighing only from 18 to 28
grains. The urn was a small one, the top having been covered by a flat
stone, with a larger stone keeping this down in its place.
By consideration of the metal values of Gaulish and Roman coins turned
up in the same "find," we might arrive at the relative current values as
regulated and assigned at the period.