British Iron Bar currency
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
British iron bar currency was a form of currency consisting of iron bars that appears to have been the first currency used in Britain.[1] Iron currency bars first appeared around 200BC.[2] Finds at Hod Hill suggest that the Iron bar currency stopped being used as coins were adopted.[1]
Currency bars have been found in four forms known as sword-shaped, spit shaped, plough-shaped and bay-leaf-shaped.[2] It has been suggested that these shapes were used to show the origin of the bars.[2] The bars generally weigh between 0.5 and 0.3 kg[2] Spit shaped bars are the most commonly found representing half of all finds.[3] Sword shaped bars make up another 40 percent.[3]
Iron currency bars have been found in some numbers in hill-forts With 27 being found at Hod Hill.[4][5] The bars found at Danebury appear to have been in the process of being processed into goods.[4] A hoard of 394 bars found at Meon Hill hillfort in 1824 marked the beginning of modern awareness of the currency bars.[1][6]
What appears to be iron bar currency was mentioned in Julius Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico.[7] There are variances in the surviving texts meaning that it is possible the original text was referring to iron ring money.[7] However iron bar currency is considered more likely in the light of archaeological discoveries of bars.[7]