As at the end of April 2005, a total of 276 Iron Age coin finds (counting hoards as one find) have been recorded as having been found on the Isle of Thanet, some 15% of the total number of Iron Age coins from east Kent, i.e. east of the valley of the Great Stour and including Thanet (fig. 1).

Potin: Kentish Primary Series  from Manston
(Van Arsdell 1406).

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Potin: Flat Linear I Series
from North Foreland
(Van Arsdell 108-3)



Gaulish Plated Stater,
gold plated with silver core,
Gallo-Belgic E from Ebbsfleet
(Van Arsdell 52-3)



North Gaulish struck
bronze of Nerei Mutinus
from Minster
(Scheers 79)




Struck bronze of the
Kentish Uninscribed Series
from Minster
(Van Arsdell 154-5)

Iron Age coins have been found at approximately 45 different locations on Thanet, from single finds to significant concentrations including hoards. Perhaps the most important site to produce large numbers of coins is the area around the North Foreland, from where around 100 coin finds are now known, many sadly in poor condition. A large enclosure of Iron Age date has been known here for a number of years and excavations at the St. Stephen's College site ahead of redevelopment in 1999 confirmed significant Iron Age occupation in the immediate area. Among the finds from here was a hoard of 62 Flat Linear I potin coins, dating from the first half of the first century BC, found in a pit adjacent to an enclosure apparently of similar date. This important find should be considered as a potential 'ritual' deposit. Another, disturbed, hoard(s) has to be considered as the source for many of the other potin coins found in the locality but this cannot be confirmed on current evidence.

Another Thanet site known for its Iron Age coin finds is at Ebbsfleet, in the area adjacent to a Roman masonry building found a number of years ago at Cottington Hill. A few of these coins were published as part of the excavation report in Archaeologia Cantiana, Vol. CX in 1992, but in excess of forty Iron Age and 'Mediterranean' coins are now recorded from here. The majority are again potins and again many are in poor condition, having suffered from environmental and agricultural activity. Other sites of late Iron Age date are hinted at by coin concentrations but those sites have seen little or no archaeological investigation to ascertain the context of these coins and the sites themselves shall at present remain confidential.

One recent important find from Thanet is the discovery of a hoard of gold staters of Dubnovellaunos, a Kentish chieftain, believed to have been found at Sarre. Unfortunately, this was dispersed without record and only came to light when a number of these rare coins suddenly appeared in the numismatic trade. This kind of irresponsible action serves no purpose to either archaeology or responsible metal-detecting and is to be greatly regretted.

Silver unit of Dubnovellaunos
from Ebbsfleet
(Van Arsdell 453)



Gold stater of Cunobelin
from St Nicholas at Wade
(Van Arsdell 1931)

Comparing the Iron Age coin finds from Thanet with those from the rest of east Kent reveals a number of interesting features (fig. 2). Firstly, whereas Kentish Primary and Flat Linear I potin coins (c.150-50 BC) are only slightly above the east Kent mean, Flat Linear II potins (c.50-30 BC), which are very scarce across east Kent apart from at Canterbury and Folkestone, are totally absent from Thanet.

Perhaps of greater significance is the relative lack of imported coins from Thanet. There are only sixteen gold and nine non-gold Gaulish imports, plus five other ancient coins from the Mediterranean region, from the whole island. Whereas gold imports (which probably had different functions from non-gold coins) from Thanet compare well with the rest of east Kent, non-gold imports compare very poorly, particularly given that non-gold imports in Kent are heavily concentrated in Canterbury and further east; indeed, as a percentage of the total recorded coinage, non-gold imports are less than half as frequently found on Thanet as they are in the rest of east Kent. Even the productive sites on Thanet are notably lacking in imports. It may be the case that the Kentish cross-Channel ports were located on the mainland - the distribution of imports would support this - and Thanet itself had no direct links to the continent.

Struck bronze of Eppillus
from Minster
(Van Arsdell 178)


Silver unit of Amminus
from North Foreland
(Van Arsdell 194)

Potins comprise a very similar proportion of the Iron Age coinage from Thanet to that from the rest of east Kent. Struck bronzes are lower on Thanet but silver (particularly) and gold are correspondingly higher. Iron Age phase 6 (c.40-25 BC) coins are under-represented on Thanet whereas phases 7 (c.25-1 BC) and 8.1 (c.AD 1-25) are above the east Kent mean. These differences may be more apparent than real, being dictated by the areas available for searching and the survival level of the coins themselves. There is little difference between Thanet and the mainland in phase 8.2 (c.25-40 AD).

Summary
Thanet saw significant coin use from a very early date (c.150-100 BC), indicating that circulation and use was probably similar to that on the mainland. Coin circulation seems to have reduced in the mid to late first century BC, seen in the relative lack of imports and phase 6 coins, before picking up strongly again in phases 7 and 8.1. A number of sites, probably with varying functions, are evident. Thanet can be regarded as part of the general east Kent circulation area, which has been shown to have had a plentiful supply of coinage, and which is a particularly significant region for any study of Iron Age coinage.