THE CORIOSOLITE EXPERT SYSTEM
GROUP: A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
SERIES: X
Y
Z

Series Z

Series Z consists of my design Groups N and O, and represent the old Class II.

These coins, by an odd series of uccurrances have always been considered to be Coriosolite. They are associated with the Coriosolite hoards found in Jersey, although very few of them have been found in Brittany and less still within the actual Coriosolite territory. Class II coins have been found in greater numbers in Normandy, both inside Unelli territory and outside. They are found as far north as the mouth of the Seine, but because these hoards were never properly recorded, the numbers of Class II coins in them were essentially ignored! This mistake of dismissing certain records as 'unscientific' while depending too much on other records thus isolated could not be parodied.

The second odd occurrence consisted of the misreading of coins from Group J as forming a link between Classes III and II, and the overiding fault that almost rendered the entire subject incomprehensible was the statistical division of the coinage into six classes rather than letting the designs speak for themselves.

Series Z was minted by Viridovix of the Unelli to pay for the mercenaries he was hiring from all over Gaul. Caesar gives us the impression that most of these people were little more than criminal thugs looking for money and a way out of their various predicaments. If this is so, then certainly great art was not wasted on them as these are sorry coins indeed. They mimic several features of Coriosolite coins, but the art on them is 'fake' and deliberately contrived to look original; actually going so far as to mimic design evolution. But this is a poor attempt at best, and it takes little study to dismiss them for what they are. The Jersey hoards consist of about 50% Viridovix and 50% Coriosolite coins.

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