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Republican Denarius 118BC
This Republican Denarius was recovered from the ancient settlement of Warburton very recently and shows that trade was indeed taking place here during the Iron age period . It shows the head of what was probably the person who was minting the coins on the obverse whilst on the reverse it is clear to see a warrior standing on his chariot hurling his spear at the enemy whilst the horses rear up in full gallop. This is a typical image of the Celtic warriors of the time which the early Romans would have encountered. The coin is made of silver and is an excellent specimen of pre – conquest coinage in Iron age Britain and indeed the first of it’s type to be found in the Warburton area. It is a unique find and one which is helping to piece together previously unknown activity of settlement and trade in Warburton. Also, you can see an example of how the reverse of the coin would have looked when first minted, try comparing this with the one found in Warburton and the two are almost identical in every respect even down to the milled edge which was added to the coins of the period to discourage clipping of the silver. On the face of the coin can be seen two "C" shaped marks, these were made by a small punch used to check that the coins being offered for trade were indeed pure silver and not forgeries. This was common practice during the Iron Age and Roman periods. ROMAN SESTERTIUS
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