Iron Age (Celtic) coin guide

Over 8,700 Iron Age (Celtic) coins have been recorded on the Portable Antiquities Scheme Database. However, the Database now includes the information created by the Celtic Coin Index (CCI) up to 2004, which has been housed at Oxford University since 1961. This provides an unparalleled resource for the study of Iron Age or Celtic coinage. The guide gives you access to over 41,000 examples of Iron Age coins with around 40,000 images of various resolutions. It should be noted that some of these coins lack a provenance. As the CCI began in the 1960s, there is a degree of variance in the usefulness of the images contained within our database. Since 1998, images are much improved and can be downloaded for non-commercial use freely.

This guide makes it easier for one to learn about coins issued and circulated during the Iron Age in England and Wales. Iron Age coins are organised by geographical region (usually with an indication of their tribal attribution). Some coins (mostly earlier issues) are uninscribed. However, as time passes, more inscribed coins are struck. We learn the names of a number of rulers and of three places where coins were minted (Camulodunum, Verulamium and Calleva). It is still notoriously difficult to date Iron Age coins precisely and dates given are only approximate.

As of 2021, the Celtic Coin Index Digital project is being digitised (cards are being scanned and non-digital data is being databased). Eventually, post-2004 coins will be added to the PAS database, and all the cards since 1961 will be made freely available online. For more information on this project, see: https://ccid.web.ox.ac.uk/

A new Iron Age coin typology site 'Iron Age Coins in Britain' was launched in 2021, which includes relevant PAS coins. This resource is now available here: https://iacb.arch.ox.ac.uk/

Recording Iron Age coins with the Portable Antiquities Scheme

From January 2010 the Celtic Coin Index has transferred responsibility for recording new finds of Iron Age coins in England and Wales to the Portable Antiquities Scheme. Therefore, coins should be reported to Finds Liaison Officers and/or Sam Moorhead (smoorhead@britishmuseum.org) / Andrew Brown (abrown@britishmuseum.org). All new coins will be assigned a PAS number, and the CCI number will be assigned at Oxford.

Latest notable coins