Page:Craik History of British Commerce Vol 1.djvu/49

Rh Roman characters. One of these, from having the letters Sego inscribed upon it, has been attributed to Segonax, who is mentioned by Cæsar as one of the four kings of Kent; but it is obvious that upon such an inference as this no reliance can be placed. The greater number of the coins in question bear, either in full or abbreviated, the name of Cunobelinus, who is said to have lived in the reign of Augustus. Some of these have the name Cunobelin at full length; one has Cunobelinus Re, the latter word being probably the Latin Rex; others have the abbreviations Cun, Cuno, Cunob, or Cunobe. Several have, in addition, what has been supposed to be the abbreviated name of their place of coinage; being most frequently Cam, or Canm, for Camulodunum, as it is conjectured; in one instance Ver, perhaps for Verulamium; in other cases No, or Novane, or Novanit, of which no probable interpretation has been given. And in addition to these inscriptions, the greater number resent the singular word Tascia, or Tascio, either written at length, or indicated by two or more of its commencing letters. This word has given occasion to much disputation; but perhaps nothing has been proposed on the subject so probable as Camden's suggestion, who conceives that the word, derived apparently from the Latin taxatio, signified, in the British language, a tribute, or tribute-money. The figures upon these coins of Cunobeline are very various. Some have a head, probably that of the king, occasionally surrounded with what seems to be a fillet of pearls, in allusion, we may suppose, to the ancient fame of the island for that highly prized gem; others have a naked full length human figure, with a club over his shoulder; many have the figure of a horse, sometimes accompanied by a wheel, which has been supposed to convey an allusion to the formation of highways, but perhaps is rather intended to indicate the national war-chariot: a crescent, an ear of corn, a star, a comet, a tree, a hog, a dog, a sheep, an ox, a lion, a sphinx, a centaur, a Janus, a female head, a woman riding on an animal like a dog, a man playing on a harp, are some of the representations that have been detected on others.