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bronze

Gold Coin of Augustus

Roman coins, like this aureus of the emperor Augustus, look deceptively like the coins that we use today. The Romans drew upon monetary traditions established by the Greeks before them to develop a comprehensive linked system of denominational coinage. By the reign of middle of the 1st century AD, millions of coins in gold, silver, brass and bronze were issued at Rome in the west and at the cities of the eastern Mediterranean. Continue reading →

Amber Necklace

This Early Bronze Age amber necklace comes from the Upton Lovell G2e barrow (burial mound) in Wiltshire, one of the richest Bronze Age burials yet discovered in Wessex. It was excavated by William Cunnington in 1803 and may have belonged to a woman. The necklace originally contained over 1,000 amber beads with spacers. Continue reading →