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Coins Featuring Britannia
Carausius’ coins featuring Britannia come in two main versions. The first has Britannia shaking hands with the emperor, and the second has her handing a wreath to the Emperor. Lajos Juhasz, in his paper “Britannia on Roman coins”, notes that the first of these comes in three variations, with Britannia holding a Vexillum, a Signum or a Spear.
They all feature the reverse legend (or a variation of) “EXPECTATE VENI” which is unique to these coins. It comes from Virgil’s Aeneid and translates to “Come, O Expected One”. This isn’t the only time Virgil appeared on Carausius’ coins. Many of his coins feature “RSR” in the exergue, and a medallion features “INPCDA” in the exergue. These were unexplained until Guy de la Bédoyère noticed that these come from Virgil’s Eclogues:
“…..Redeunt Saturnia Regna,
Iam Nova Progenies Caelo Demittitur Alto”
Which broadly translates to:
“The Golden Ages are back,
now a new generation is let down from heaven above”
Britannia Shaking Hands With the Emperor
Britannia Holding a Vexillum
Photo © Trustees of the British Museum (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). Number 1900,1105.10
There are four coins listed in RIC 5(B) with this reverse type:
There may be more, but I haven’t found photos for them, and RIC 5(B) doesn’t go to this level of detail.
Britannia Holding a Signum
Photo Copyright Classical Numismatic Group, LLC. Auction 215 lot 483. Sold for $249+fees
There is only one coin listed in RIC 5(B) with this reverse type:
- RIC 5 605 Antoninianus
There may be more, but I haven’t found photos for them, and RIC 5(B) doesn’t go to this level of detail.
Britannia Holding a Spear
Photo Copyright Spink and Son Ltd. Auction 18004 lot 556
There is only one coin listed in RIC 5(B) with this reverse type:
- RIC 5 554 Denarius
There may be more, but I haven’t found photos for them, and RIC 5(B) doesn’t go to this level of detail.
Britannia Holding an “Ensign or Trident”
The following coins are listed in RIC 5(B) as having Brtiannia holding an ensign or trident, and clasping the emperor’s hand. I have been unable to find photos of any of them, so I can’t tell which one of the above categories they actually are:
Britannia Presenting the Emperor with a Wreath
Photo Copyright Spink and Son Ltd. Auction 1009 Lot 432. Sold for £2,200 + fees
There are four antoniniani listed in RIC 5(B) with this reverse type: RIC 5 773, RIC 5 774, RIC 5 775, and RIC 5 776.
However, I’ve been unable to find photos for any of them. However, I have managed to find photos for two unlisted denarii of this type. One is shown above, and the other can be seen here.
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