The North Yorkshire Moors Collection of British Coins formed by Marvin Lessen Part I

Carausius (286-293), Antoninianus, unmarked issue, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right, ‘s’ behind head, rev. pax avg, Pax standing left, holding olive-branch and vertical sceptre, uncertain cross-like object in central field, 2.59g (RIC 888; Seaby, NC 1956, no. 320, this coin; cf. Sear 13648; S 673). Somewhat crude style, very fine, attractive brown patina £50-70

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The North Yorkshire Moors Collection of British Coins.

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Provenance: Little Orme’s Head (Gwynedd) Hoard, 1907; Willoughby Gardner Collection; SCMB December 1964 (B 990).

The Little Orme’s Head hoard, of approximately 700 3rd brass coins, predominantly of Carausius, was found by workmen excavating stones on the side of the road from Llandudno to Colwyn Bay on 10 January 1907. Some coins, still within the residual rubble, were discovered after the rubble had been carted to the site for the then-new Mostyn Broadway in Llandudno, as foundation ballast for a new footpath. It is believed that the hoard discovered in 1907 was originally associated with a much larger deposit of c. 5,000 bronzes discovered in 1873 (see Lot 157)