British iron bar currency was a form of currency consisting of iron bars that appears to have been the first currency used in Britain. [1] Iron currency bars first appeared around 200BC. [2] Finds at Hod Hill suggest that the Iron bar currency stopped being used as coins were adopted. [1]
Currency bars have been found in four forms known as sword-shaped, spit shaped, plough-shaped and bay-leaf-shaped. [2] It has been suggested that these shapes were used to show the origin of the bars. [2] The bars generally weigh between 0.5 and 0.3 kg [2] Spit shaped bars are the most commonly found representing half of all finds. [3] Sword shaped bars make up another 40 percent. [3]
Iron currency bars have been found in some numbers in hill-forts With 27 being found at Hod Hill. [4] [5] The bars found at Danebury appear to have been into the process of being processed into goods. [4] A hoard of 394 bars found at Meon Hill hillfort in 1824 marked the beginning of modern awareness of the currency bars. [1] [6]
What appears to be iron bar currency was mentioned in Julius Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico. [7] There are variances in the surviving texts meaning that it is possible the original text was referring to iron ring money. [7] However iron bar currency is considered more likely in the light of archaeological discoveries of bars. [7]
Types and Distribution
The different types of bar have been found with varying frequency across England. [2]
| Type | Mainly found | Image |
|---|---|---|
| Sword-shaped [2] | Hampshire, Dorset, along the Jurassic Way and onto the Humber [2] | |
| Spit shaped [2] | Cotswolds, Somerset [2] | |
| Plough-shaped [2] | Thames Valley, Kent, Midlands [2] | |
| Bay-leaf-shaped [2] | Cambridgeshire [2] |
References
- ^ a b c Allen, Derek (1968). "Iron Currency Bars in Britain". Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society. 33: 307–335. doi: 10.1017/S0079497X00014110. ISSN 0079-497X.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Cunliffe, Barry (2005). Iron Age Communities in Britain: An Account of England, Scotland and Wales from the Seventh Century BC until the Roman Conquest (4th ed.). Routledge. pp. 495–496. ISBN 9780415562928.
- ^ a b Henderson, Julian (2000). The Science and Archaeology of Materials: An Investigation of Inorganic Materials. Routledge. pp. 280–282. ISBN 0415199344.
- ^ a b Cunliffe, Barry (2005). Iron Age Communities in Britain: An Account of England, Scotland and Wales from the Seventh Century BC until the Roman Conquest (4th ed.). Routledge. p. 499. ISBN 9780415562928.
- ^ Papworth, Martin (2011). The Search for the Durotriges Dorset and the West Country in the Late Iron Age. The History Press. p. 117. ISBN 9780752498478.
- ^ "Multivallate hillfort on Meon Hill official list entry". historicengland.org.uk. Historic England. 8 March 1994. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
- ^ a b c Einzig, Paul (1966). Primitive Money: In its Ethnological, Historical and Economic Aspects. Pergamon Press. pp. 234–238. LCCN 65-29326.