The Cantii occupied most of what is now Kent, and their potin issues are among the earliest coins struck — or more accurately, cast — in Britain. Potin, a tin-rich bronze alloy, was the standard medium for these early cast pieces, which predate the gold and silver struck coinage introduced later by the same tribal groups. The three-dot variety maps to a specific die classification in Van Arsdell's typology, distinguishing it from the closely related two-dot and four-dot issues that circulated concurrently across the same territory.
Cast in strip moulds rather than struck, production losses and variable alloy quality are endemic to the type.
The Cantii occupied most of what is now Kent, and their potin issues are among the earliest coins struck — or more accurately, cast — in Britain. Potin, a tin-rich bronze alloy, was the standard medium for these early cast pieces, which predate the gold and silver struck coinage introduced later by the same tribal groups. The three-dot variety maps to a specific die classification in Van Arsdell's typology, distinguishing it from the closely related two-dot and four-dot issues that circulated concurrently across the same territory.
Cast in strip moulds rather than struck, production losses and variable alloy quality are endemic to the type.