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q: do i have the first coin.......?

...struck in Britain bearing a Christian cross? I have a barbarous British ae minim imitating a 4th century Roman bronze--appears to be a Valentinian II with winged victory standing next to a cross in the field reverse. The cross on the reverse is bold and a standalone cross (not attached to an orb, not a chi-ro, etc). Which got me to thinking....... the first cross ever to be struck on a British coin HAD to be a barbarous imitation roman coin like this one. Makes me wonder if my coin isn't the first one in british history! (yeah i know-- hard to prove).

NOT to be confused with official Roman coins with cross symbols that came OVER to the British Isles-- which of course, were not struck in Britain.
Anyone know of other barbarous British roman imitation coins with crosses on them?

Comments

  • SapyxSapyx Posts: 1,976 ✭✭✭✭✭
    London was a official mint city of the Roman Empire; there are some official Roman coins from the Constantinian period struck in Britain that have crosses on them, such as this coin of Crispus with a small cross carved inside the wreath on the altar.

    There are also crosses to be found on British Celtic coins, such as this gold stater of the Corieltauvi tribe but since these date from before 1 AD they clearly are not intended to symbolize Christianity.
    Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.
    Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"

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  • The early sign of christianity was the fish, the cross wasn't used until later (5th centry ish)
    Gary
  • the link to the crispus coin didn't show up... but i did look up another constaninian london mint bronze with what seemed like a tiny cross on an altar.....though, i wonder if the intent was showing a Christian cross at that point. My coin could easily be 5th century a.d i suppose-- the holder had it as "500-600 A.D British Minim"
  • SapyxSapyx Posts: 1,976 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>The early sign of christianity was the fish, the cross wasn't used until later (5th centry ish) >>


    The cross wasn't the main symbol of Christianity, but it was used as a Christian symbol, especially by missionaries leaving the boundaries of the Empire - a fact attested to by the coins of the Axumite Kingdom in Africa. King Ezanas converted to Christianity in 330 AD; his pre-conversion coins like the one shown in the Wiki article bear the sun-and-moon symbol of the pagan Axumite religion, as do all the coins of his predecessors. His post-conversion coins bear crosses, as do all the coins of his successors. During Ezanas' reign there are also transitional pieces; some, such as this gold coin, bear both, while yet others bear neither. The cross is clearly a Christian symbol in Axum as early as 330-350 AD.


    << <i>...constaninian london mint bronze with what seemed like a tiny cross on an altar.....though, i wonder if the intent was showing a Christian cross at that point... >>


    It is ambiguous - and perhaps deliberately so. The cross certainly wasn't the commonly seen public symbol of the new religion. Constantine seemed to want to downplay the new religious state of affairs, at least on the coinage - judging from the continued usage of pagan symbolism such as Sol, Jupiter and Victory on his coins, a neutral observer might conclude he was as pagan as his predecessors. Still, the coins in question depict a vow the emperor made - and by all accounts it would have been the Christian God he would have sworn by at the time that coin was made.

    The symbol of Christianity as the official state-sanctioned religion of Rome was the chi-ro, the "sign" Constantine saw in his vision. It's certainly much more common on later Christian-period Roman coins than the cross, until well into the Byzantine series, but by the time the chi-ro became a common symbol the London mint had closed (325 AD).
    Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.
    Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"

    Apparently I have been awarded one DPOTD. B)
  • That's very interesting, but the cross as a symbol pre dates the christian era as it was infact a pagen symbol. The use of the cross as a symbol was condemned by at least one church father of the 3rd century CE because of its Pagan origins. The first appearance of a cross in Christian art is on a Vatican sarcophagus from the mid-5th Century.
    Gary D
  • it's looking like a "cross" on coinage comes in various forms and by various definitions. You had "crosses" on B.C era Celtic coins (as was referred to earlier) but of course those couldn't have been Christianity symbols. Then you have the Chi-Ro, which didn't survive as a symbol on coinage as the standard cross did into the medieval period and beyond. Then you have the subtle crosses-- which can be seen incorporated into the design elements (as on an orb o altar) but as design elements were not predominant, standing out unto themselves, and with the intent of being a symbol of Christianity.

    But, you DO have those standalone crosses (as we know a cross today) on coins of the later Roman Empire (Valentinian II and CERTAINLY Theodisius II) which take us into the ROman Empire of the late 4th century and into the 5th century.

    All of which means....my British barbarous Roman imitation coin (late 4th century at earliest) is STILL a viable candidate for earliest Christian cross (at least as a standalone, predominant design element) struck onto a native British coin! Far as I can see leastways.
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