This is not a coin-collector's handbook, identfiying different types of coin; rather it enables the reader interested in the Romans and archaeology to understand the place of coinage in Roman Britain and so deepen their understanding of Roman Britain as a whole.

The first two chapters provide a resume of how the coinage of the central Roman state changed, developed and stumbled. In Britain most coins in museums and collections come from hoards (coins deposited in a group) or from coins found singly during excavation or walking over fields. These two classes are very different and are examined separately. The author then looks at how coins were used in Roman Britain, and finally explains the differences between Britain and the rest of the Roman Empire.

Despite the need for quantitative as well as well as qualitative analysis, Richard Reece has - for the benefit of those who are understandably put off by reams of statistics - banished all numbers and numerical methods to a single short Appendix. The result is a book sparkling with Dr Reece's characteristically incisive insights that can be appreciated by anyone interested in Britain's past.