NEW BOOK: ANCIENT BRITISH COINS

Never before have so many ancient British coins been so easy to identify, so easy to study, so easy to enjoy. ABC catalogues 999 iron age coins, including 418 new types not shown by Van Arsdell in 1989. ABC describes and dates them, gives up to six references for each, estimates their rarity and shows every coin twice actual size, so that its distinctive differences can be seen at a glance. ABC took ten years to produce, has 256 fact-packed pages and contains 4000 superb coin photos, plus 500 other illustrations, diagrams, tables and maps.

ABC is a picture book, not a lecture book. “ABC is a remarkable achievement” says Prof. Miranda Aldhouse-Green. “It manages to combine scholarship and accessible information in a volume whose every page is interesting and whose writing style makes it fun to use.” ABC is a large hardback book (30 x 20 cm), light in style, heavy in weight (1.5 kgs) - “an indispensable aid to anyone wanting to identify British iron age coins” says Prof. Colin Haselgrove - worth every penny of its £75 plus postage. Buy ABC direct from Chris Rudd. For more information visit: www.celticcoins.com .

In ABC you'll find the coins of men who made history. You'll meet Commios who helped Caesar raid Britain in 55 and 54 BC; Dubnovellaunos ‘world ruler' who paid homage to Augustus; Amminus who squealed to Caligula; Verica who gave Claudius an excuse to invade Britain; Prasutagus, Boudica's rich husband, who ruled the Iceni on behalf of Nero; and Cunobelinus who became the most powerful tribal ruler in western Europe, immortalised by Suetonius as ‘king of the Britons' and by Shakespeare as Cymbeline. You'll also meet his son Caratacus ‘the beloved' who fought the Romans for eight years until he was betrayed by Cartimandua ‘strong pony', queen of the Brigantes.

In ABC you'll discover elusive rulers such as Sam of Kent and Touto too, Ex of Hants, Crab of Wight, Scavo of Norfolk, Cat of Lincs and Cat of Herts, Inamn of Glos., and Trocc of Essex – all unknown to history and most historians, some unrecorded by previous cataloguers.

In ABC you'll see crabs, rats and owls. You'll see sea-horses, human horses and horses that breathe fire. You'll see bounding hounds, butting bulls and rutting stags. You'll see cocks on heads, ducks on helmets and marsh-birds perched on slavering wolves. You'll see dragons, griffins, sphinxes, two-headed snakes and ram-headed serpents. You'll see gods and goddesses galore, druid priests, hidden faces, magic symbols and phallic symbols. You'll see Gold Tit, Willett's Nipple and Thatcher's Sister. Look closer and you may see signs of wine drinking, slave trading, ritual killing and head hunting.

ABC is for metal detectorists, collectors, students, dealers and anyone with an interest in the art, archaeology, mythology or history of late iron age Britain and its charismatic coins. Above all, ABC has been designed to be convenient to consult – convenient for everyone, not just those with Dr. in front of their name. ABC is a picture book, not a lecture book.

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web