48 
JOURNAL OF THE PLYMOUTH INSTITUTION. 
a full record had been kept of the many thousands which Exeter 
alone has yielded. 1 
" Stray coins of the earlier Emperors have been found [in 
Cornwall], but these are few and far between. With the age of 
the Antonines the proportion greatly increases ; but it is not until 
the middle of the century that they appear in any considerable 
quantities. From Gallienus (200 a.d.) down to Valentinian, a 
century later, all the hoards of coins date. Among the more 
common are those of Postumus; Victorinus; Tetricus, sen. and 
jun. ; Claudius Gothicus ; Aurelian, Tacitus, Probus ; and the 
family of Constantine. Mr. Buller, in his History of St. Just, 
mentions the remarkable fact that coins of Carausius (usually 
scarce) are common in that parish." 2 
1 They are found in almost every excavation within the limits of the 
ancient city, with pottery and other articles of Roman origin. When 
extensive sewerage works were in progress in 1810 they were dug up by the 
thousand. Vide Shortt's Antiq. Exon., which, with his Antiq. Dev., con- 
tains a large body of collections anent Roman and other antiquities of the 
county. 
Other places in Devon where Roman coins have been found are : Berry 
Head (Claudius) ; Bickley, near Tiverton ; Babbicombe (Trajan) ; Bovey 
Tracey (Gallienus, Valerianus, Postumus, Victorinus the elder, Claudius 
Gothicus) ; Chagford (Philip the elder, Tetricus, Quintillus) ; Cadbury 
(Victorinus, Tetricus) ; Crediton (Decius) ; Haldon (Antonia gens, denarii 
temp. Augustus, Claudius, Antoninus Pius, Faustina the younger, Julia 
Msesa, Caracalla, Philip, Probus) ; Honiton ; Kingskerswell (a find of 2, 000, 
including Gallienus, Quintillus, Claudius Gothicus, Tetricus elder and younger, 
Postumus, Victorinus, Tacitus, Probus) ; Plymouth (Hadrian, A. Pius, A. 
Severus, Faustina) ; Plympton (third brass detrited) ; Poughill (silver find 
— Vespasian, Trajan, A. Pius, M. Aurelius, Constantine the Great) ; Sid- 
mouth (Valerianus) ; Stratton ; Torquay (Trajan). 
Greek coins have been found at Exeter, and regarded as proof of Phoenician 
intercourse. The earliest I have noted is one of Hiero I. of Syracuse, 
478-469 b.c, and there are others of Ptolemy I., B.C. 322, and P. Philometer, 
B.C. 180. A coin of Sidon is also mentioned. Most of the Exeter Greek 
coins are, however, of the Roman emperors— Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus, 
M. Aurelius, A. Severus, Caracalla, Probus ; though many Greek cities are 
represented — Agrigentum, Alexandria, Amissus, Amphipolis, Antioch, 
Chalcis, Cyrrhus, Hieropolis, Samosata, Singara, Syracuse, and Zeugma, 
of the number. A Greek coin of Castanea was found at Berry Pomeroy, and 
another Greek coin at Truro. Polwhele says a Phoenician coin was found at 
Teignmouth. The earlier coins may have been introduced direct, or with 
the later by the Roman auxiliaries. Is it not probable, however, that the 
early Phoenician trade was conducted by barter ? 
2 Nccnia Cornubiw, p. 255. 
