Details

LOT 0319

'Bourton-on-the-Water' Celtic Sword-Shaped Iron Currency Ingot

IRON AGE, CIRCA 200 B.C.-1ST CENTURY A.D.

32 1/4 in. (561 grams, 82 cm).

A substantial long iron bar in the shape of a sword with the original short folded-over handle to one end. [No Reserve]

Provenance

Found Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire, UK, during the period between WWI and WWII.
Property of the finder's family until sold by regional auction house, Tayler & Fletcher in Bourton-On-The-Water.
From the private collection of a Stratford-upon-Avon, UK, gentleman.

Published

Exhibited at the Harwich Museum, Harwich, Essex, UK, 4th March 2026-7th June 2026; accompanied by a copy of a photograph of the artefacts on display.

Literature

See Gresham, Colin, A., Spetisbury Rings, Dorset, Archaeological Journal 96, pp.114-131, which includes details for this and other finds from the site; see also Smith, Reginald, Currency Bars, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, London, 2nd Series, XX, p.182, for comparison between the Spetisbury and Malvern examples; cf. British Museum, accession no.1862,0627.18, for an example from the site (acquired from J. Y. Akerman in 1862; other items were acquired in 1892 from the Durdan, Blandford collection).

Footnotes

Currency bars were standardised units used to trade in Iron Age Britain between circa 200 B.C.-1st century A.D. They were often sword-shaped and were used as a form of early currency or trade commodity in Iron Age Britain before coinage became widespread, serving as a store of wealth and medium of exchange. These high-status objects, requiring significant labour (25 man-days/kg), often featured a socket or hilt, possibly to show quality. Types including spit, sword, plough, and bay-leaf shapes have been found in hoards at hillforts like Hod Hill and Danebury.