Site-Finds in Roman Britain

In Britannia iii I was able to give a very summary and outline picture of Roman coinfinds in Britain. A year later this picture was extended to France and Italy, and various similarities and differences were noted. At the same time John Casey was working particularly on military coin-finds, and he came independently to very similar conclusions. A framework had been established: there was a British pattern which was different from the continental pattern and all British sites, to a greater or lesser extent, lay within this pattern. The most obvious features, drawn out in diagram form in Britannia iii, included low coin-loss on every site from the Claudian conquest to A.D. 260, high coin-loss from 260 to 294, a dip from 294 to 330, a major peak from 330 to 348, and a general high level of coin-loss in the fourth century.