GOLD QUARTER STATER MYSTERY

At 1.00pm on Saturday, 5 October 2013, metal detectorist Tom Lesurf, aged 19, found a small gold coin which raises a large question – a small gold coin which some of us believe was struck by a long-lost prince who died defending Britain again Roman invaders.

Tom was taking part in a three-day rally on a farm at Bourne End, Bedfordshire, along with about 400 other metdets including his father Eddie Lesurf.

This is the first gold coin that Tom has found and it could well be the most important coin he will ever find.

It is a 2,000-year-old gold quarter stater which was minted by a prince of the Catuvellauni (‘men excelling in battle’), probably around the time that the Roman emperor Claudius invaded Britain in AD 43.

Only three other coins are known of this prince – all of the same type – and all three came from the huge Hallaton war-hoards in east Leicestershire – over 5,000 coins, mostly silver coins of the Corieltavi (‘army of the broad land’) – which could have been collected to finance resistance to the Roman advance into the East Midlands c.AD 45-46 and which were first discovered in 2000 by metdet Ken Wallace.

The big question is this: who issued Tom’s exceedingly rare gold quarter stater?

To read the complete article, see: Has Tom found Togodumnus? (www.coinsweekly.com/en/Has-Tom-found-Togodumnus/8?&id=367&type=a)

Wayne Homren, Editor

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