After conquest and occupation by the Romans, the Gaulish currency, as
well as that of ancient Britain, was superseded by Roman issues. Mr.
Edward Hawkins, in his standard work on the Silver Coins of England[C]
(page 22), tersely and precisely explains what happened in England; and
the Channel Islands came within the same provisions and action.
[C] "The Silver Coins of England." By Edward Hawkins, F.R.S., F.A.S.
Published by Bernard Quaritch, 15, Piccadilly, London.
"It is natural to suppose that when the Roman power had become
established in Britain, the ordinary money of that empire would form the
general circulation of this country, and that British money would be for
the most part, if not entirely, superseded. Gildas asserts that an edict
was actually issued and enforced, ordaining that all money current in
this island should bear the image and superscription of the Roman
Emperor; and the circumstance of Roman coins being almost daily turned
up in every part of the country amply confirms his statement. It is
quite unnecessary to enter here into any description of that money, as
it is perfectly well known to everyone, and numerous treatises and
descriptions of it have been published in all languages."
Just as stated above, it would be but going over ground already
thoroughly well trodden to treat of the different Roman coins discovered
in the Channel islands. They are similar to those which have come to
light on the south coast of England and in Normandy and Brittany. I
will, however, append at length the following note from William Nicolle,
Esq., Jurat, of Bosville, King's Cliff, Jersey, who has favoured me with
particulars of Roman coins found in Jersey, and now in his possession:--
"The Roman coins in my possession are 342 in number, and form part of a
find which was made in February, 1848, in the district of 'Les
Quenvais,' in the parish of St. Brelade's, Jersey. They were described
in a paper which was contributed to the Worcester Congress in the summer
of 1848, by the late Mr. F. C. Lukis, F.S.A., the eminent Guernsey
archaeologist, and which was published in the 'Journal of the
Archaeological Association,' Vol. IV., page 272.
"Mr. Lukis says:--'By a series of sections the accumulation of sand in
Les Quenvais bears marks of several inundations, quite distinct in
their appearance, and varying somewhat in their directions. The soil and
clay beneath this sandy mass exhibit Roman vestiges of pottery and other
articles, so that we cannot be far wrong in attributing the change in
this supposed fertile district to a period not far removed from the
Roman subjugation of western Europe. Fragments of Roman pottery from
beneath the sandy hillocks of Les Quenvais, in the possession of Col. Le
Couteur, of Jersey, Aide-de-camp to Her Majesty, present indubitable
marks of the possession of this district by those conquerors. And, as if
a further proof were wanting, in February last a jar[D] of coarse
earthenware, which contained 400 brass coins in excellent state of
preservation, was dug out from the substratum, where it may have been
lodged at the time of the Roman occupation of Jersey.'
[D] This jar is in my possession.
"Mr. Lukis then proceeds to describe at length the different varieties
of coins in this find under the respective emperors, though his details
are not always correct.
"Of the 342 brass coins in my possession 208 are coins of Constantine
the Great, or his son, 86 of Licinius, 16 of Maximinus, 14 of Maxentius,
11 of Maximianus, and 7 of Constantius Chlorus.
"Two emperors had the common name of Maximianus. The elder reigned from
286 to 310, and the younger from 305 to 311. Of the 11 coins of these
emperors, there are 7 of the elder and 4 of the younger. The first bear
on the obverse the legend _D. N. Maximiano P. F. S. Aug._, and the
second the words _Imp. C. Val. Maximianus P. F. Aug._
"Constantius I., or Constantius Chlorus, reigned one year, from the
first of May, 305, to July 25th, 306, when he died at Eboracum, now
York. During the whole of this period he remained in Gaul and Britain.
The 7 coins of this emperor are all of the same mintage. An exact
_facsimile_ of them is given on page 262 of Stevenson's 'Dictionary of
Roman Coins,' with the slight difference that in the exergue the letters
are P. L. N. instead of P. T. R.
"Constantine the Great reigned from 306 to 337. He was the son of
Constantius Chlorus, and was with him at Eboracum at the time of his
death, and there assumed the purple. His son, Constantius II., or
Junior, was named Caesar by his father in 317, and died in 340. There is
no proper criterion by which to distinguish the coins of these two
emperors. Of the 208 coins of Constantine in my collection there are
about 30 varieties.
"Maximinus II. reigned from 305 to 313; Maxentius from 306 to 312; and
Licinius from 307 to 324.
"It is probable that all, or almost all, the 342 coins of this
collection were minted during the first quarter of the 4th century--in
fact, during the ten years between A.D. 305 and 315."