Colchester

MM

Nearly 2,000 years ago, Colchester became the first capital of Roman Britain. It was Emperor Claudius who gave Colchester, then under the name Camulodunum, city status by making it a Roman Colonia.

The first mention of Britain on a coin wasn’t until 46 AD when Claudius put a triumphal arch and “De Britann” on some coins to show he had conquered Britain and added it to the Roman Empire.

It was not until 44 BC that the portrait of a living person—Julius Caesar—appeared on coins.