HERTFORDSHIRE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 
XXV 
In the interior the inhabitants did not sow corn, but lived on 
milk and flesh, though they did not know how to make cheese, 
incredible as this may appear to Welshmen. They had wives in 
common, and in many other respects there was a marked contrast 
between the tribes on the southern and south-eastern coast and 
those of the interior. 
But though the former were so much more highly civilized than 
the latter, there is one remark of Caesar which has caused many to 
doubt the existence of any coinage among them. The passage, as 
commonly received, is as follows : “ Utuntur aut sere aut annnlis 
ferreis ad certum pondus examinatis pro nummis ” “ They use 
either brass, or rings of iron adjusted to a certain weight, instead 
of money.” It has, however, been pointed out by the late Mr. 
Hawkins that the passage is corrupt, and that in several MSS. 
there is express mention made of gold coins. But in addition to 
this, a letter to Cicero from his brother in Britain speaks of a 
tribute in money having been imposed upon the island “imperata 
pecunia ” ; and from other authors there seems reason to believe 
that a tribute was actually paid. 
On any examination of the circumstances of the case, the absence 
of a coinage in Britain appears in the highest degree improbable. 
There was at the time of the invasion a remarkably close intercourse 
between Gaul and Britain. During the Gallic war a league of 
Gaulish tribes sent over to Britain for assistance. The news of 
Caesar’s intended invasion is reported to have been carried over to 
Britain by the traders; no less than four ports are mentioned by 
Strabo as those from which there was constant commerce to this 
country from the Continent, and Divitiacus is expressly mentioned 
as having held dominion over a considerable part of Britain as well 
as in Gaul. Other facts might be cited, but these suffice to show 
that if the use of coins was known in Gaul—and of this there is no 
question—it must also have been known in Britain. So far there¬ 
fore as this passage is concerned, we must regard it either as not 
containing the original statement of Caesar, or else as being based 
on some misrepresentation of facts. 
That this is the case is proved by the testimony of the coins 
themselves. Throughout the whole of the southern and south¬ 
eastern part of Britain, as far as a line joining the Severn and the 
northern part of Yorkshire, that is to say, in those parts which 
were once settled by Belgic tribes, and the adjoining districts, coins 
undoubtedly of British origin have been found in considerable 
numbers. 
They are of two classes, uninscribed and inscribed, and in the 
names, types, and inscriptions on many of those of the latter class 
the influence of contact with the Homans may be traced. This 
class may, indeed, for the most part be attributed to the period 
between the second landing of Julius, b.c. 54, and the conquest by 
Claudius, a.d. 43.-44, though some are of even later date. 
During this interval of rather less than a century there was mucn 
intercourse between Britain and Borne, including, of course, the 
VOL. in.—PART IV. 
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