I can’t have a Carausius website without considering a
particular group of later coins.
There exists a series of coins utilising the fallen horseman
design, normally associated with the FEL TEMP REPARATIO legend (FTR), from the
mid fourth century as a prototype some of which enigmatically have the
blundered name Carausius on the obverse, others of a similar style name
Censoris. Indeed there are even some coins that name both. Furthermore the
legend also contains the title DOMINO on the obverse and/or reverse and not a
feature of the usual FTR coins.
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King (1976) acknowledges that these coins are uncommonly encountered, recognising approximately 15 specimens recorded at the time. She also notes, though, that “the myth of an actual Carausius II has now been rejected”, but accepts that the use of the name Carausius, some sixty years after the Romano-British usurpers demise, as well as variations away from the normal pattern of obverse and reverse legend that cannot be easily explained. The distinguishing orthographic features of the Carausius II coins are not found on any of the official FTR coins. A number have an attempt at the name CONSTNTIVS or CONSTANTIUS on the reverse, rather than the expected obverse. Even the observed mintmark, TREVES (eg on the King, 1976, specimen), for Treveri, modern Trier in Germany, is not an official configuration.
Boon, in the 1988 reprint of his 1974 paper, has 19 coins listed, three emperor on galley and the remainder soldier spearing fallen horseman reverse. By the time that Richard Brickstock published his study of the imitative Fel Temp coins in 1987 there are 25 noted pieces in the series.
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Of the coins recorded in the literature all recorded
provenances, where they exist, are from Britain. There is no discernable find
pattern to the coins to suggest either a local personality or a single minting
location for the coins.
There are none recorded from Roman sites overseas. One
should not read too much into this as the original Carausius was, after all,
predominantly a British phenomenon. An additional factor may be that the crude
Carausius II series of coins could well be overlooked abroad.
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Carson, 1990, suggests that the name Carausius appears merely as an adumbrate in blundered orthography. Given the observed features, already noted, that do not appear on the regular coins I find that difficult to believe.
What might be closer to the truth is the suggestion made by Kent that the name Carausius is used not to represent a current person but, rather, a throwback or an evasion type coinage (akin to the 18th century British halfpenny copies). An alternative may be some sort of unofficial restitution, for some reason. Throwback names are used, for example, on fourth century contorniates that can be found with the names of Nero and Trajan.
Bibliography
To avoid confusion with the main Carausius I am publishing here my bibliography of the reported coins of Carausius II. As with my main bibliography I am only including books and papers that are in my own library.
Anscombe, A, "The Richborough coin inscribed DOMINO CENSAVRIO CES", BNJ 9, 1928, pp 1-23
Askew, G, The Coinage of Roman Britain, 1967
Askew, G, The Coinage of Roman Britain, 1980
Boon, G C, "A coin of "the second Carausius" from Silchester", NC 1955, pp 235-7
Boon, G C, "Counterfeit coins in Roman Britain", in Casey, P J, and Reece, R, Coins and the Archaeologist, 1988, pp 102-88
Brickstock, R J, Copies of the Fel Temp Reparatio Coinage in Britain, 1987, see especially pp 44-8
Carson, R A G, Coins of the Roman Empire, 1990, see p 288
Carson, R A G, and Kent, J P C, "A hoard of Roman fourth-century bronze coins from Heslington, Yorkshire", NC 1971, pp 207-25
Casey, P J, Carausius and Allectus: the British Usurpers, 1994
Evans, A J, ‘On a coin of a second Carausius, Caesar in Britain in the fifth century’, NC 1887, pp 191-219
Hill, P V, "Three new Carausius II coins", NC 1948, pp 91-3
Kent, J P C, "Carausius II - fact or fiction?" NC 1957, pp 78-83
King, C E, “A new Carausius II coin”, NC 1976, p 227
Mattingly H, "The Freckenham hoard of Roman Coins", NC 1953, pp 69-73
Stevens, C E, "Some thoughts on 'second Carausius'", NC 1956, pp 345-9
Sutherland, C H V, ""Carausius II", "Censeris", and the Fel Temp Reparatio overstrikes", NC 1945, pp 125-33