Iron Currency Bars in Britain

Bibliographic Data

ID11003045
AuthorsDerek Allen (corresponding author)
Year1968
Volume33
Pages307-335
Publication date1968-02-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueProceedings of the Prehistoric Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0079-497X • E-ISSN: 2050-2729
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0079497x00014110
OpenAlexW2005703749
LanguageEN
Citations received12
References cited4

This study of iron currency bars began as a note, prepared at the request of the late Professor Sir Ian Richmond, for inclusion in his publication of the British Museum excavations at Hod Hill. It was intended to accompany a similar account of the Celtic coins found at Hod Hill, for which he had previously asked. Hod Hill is the only site where coins and bars have been found in comparable numbers. However, as one thing led to another, the original note grew out of scale for a contribution to an excavation report; hence this separate paper. A summary will be included in Mr J. W. Brailsford's volume on Hod Hill. The term ‘iron currency bar’ has long been in use to describe certain elongated iron objects found in late iron age sites in Britain. The earliest records are of a hoard found at Meon Hill, Warwickshire, in 1824. Bars became well known after the discovery of an important hoard at Salmonsbury, Gloucestershire, in 1860. The first serious study was made by Charles Roach Smith, when in 1864 he published an earlier hoard of bars from Hod Hill. The classical account of them was given by Reginald Smith in 1905 and developed in a number of subsequent articles, which have been the basis of nearly all that has been written since. It is the theories of Reginald Smith which require reconsideration today. Between 1,100 and 1,500 iron bars relevant to this study have been found at more than 20 sites in Britain. Whether they are all iron currency bars depends on the definition of currency bar adopted. The first task was to trace as many bars as possible; I have found examples in more than 30 collections and there are, no doubt, more which I have failed to find. What has come to light, however, summarized in the Appendix, has been enough to show that the surviving material needs to be analyzed on fresh lines

Ancient history · Archaeology · Celtic languages · Currency · Hoard · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Classics · Historical and Archaeological Studies · History · Metallurgy and Cultural Artifacts · Philosophy

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