Vauvert Moths
@vauvertmoths.bsky.social
Phil de Jersey, archaeologist/numismatist based in St Peter Port, Guernsey. Started out with my son on that other place as moth fans, hence the name. Likely to be some other creatures, some books and some photography. And a bit of archaeology.
It's #FindsFriday so it must be time for another defaced #IronAge #coin. In this case a stater of the Coriosolitae, 23.6mm max diameter, c.60 BC. Very heavily scratched on both sides but leaving enough of the design to be recognizable #numismatics #archaeology 🏺
December 5, 2025 at 1:02 PM
It's #FindsFriday so it must be time for another defaced #IronAge #coin. In this case a stater of the Coriosolitae, 23.6mm max diameter, c.60 BC. Very heavily scratched on both sides but leaving enough of the design to be recognizable #numismatics #archaeology 🏺
Delighted to have received the pdf of this - it took about six years of work alongside the day job, and about 3 people will read it, but (fortunately) that's not the point. PDF available if you're one of the three 😉 #IronAge #numismatics #archaeology
December 2, 2025 at 8:16 AM
Delighted to have received the pdf of this - it took about six years of work alongside the day job, and about 3 people will read it, but (fortunately) that's not the point. PDF available if you're one of the three 😉 #IronAge #numismatics #archaeology
Yes, there's a face in profile, looking right. Here's another one with just a single thin cut. There is a lot of speculation about why this was done: sometimes it's probably to test the metal, but in other cases there must be some kind of deliberate 'killing' of the coin (or the face?) going on...
November 28, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Yes, there's a face in profile, looking right. Here's another one with just a single thin cut. There is a lot of speculation about why this was done: sometimes it's probably to test the metal, but in other cases there must be some kind of deliberate 'killing' of the coin (or the face?) going on...
Another intriguing defaced #coin for #FindsFriday. This time it's a quarter stater of the Coriosolitae, 15mm diameter, with multiple cuts on the obverse - mostly vertical (ten, I think) but there's a horizontal one too. Somebody went to a lot of trouble to deface this... #numismatics #archaeology 🏺
November 28, 2025 at 8:10 AM
Another intriguing defaced #coin for #FindsFriday. This time it's a quarter stater of the Coriosolitae, 15mm diameter, with multiple cuts on the obverse - mostly vertical (ten, I think) but there's a horizontal one too. Somebody went to a lot of trouble to deface this... #numismatics #archaeology 🏺
Some of the most interesting #coins are not necessarily the most beautiful. Here's a spectacularly defaced 0.99g of silver from the Le Câtillon hoard. I have tried very hard to see something on the reverse, but without success - frustrating because it could be important. #FindsFriday #numismatics 🏺
November 21, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Some of the most interesting #coins are not necessarily the most beautiful. Here's a spectacularly defaced 0.99g of silver from the Le Câtillon hoard. I have tried very hard to see something on the reverse, but without success - frustrating because it could be important. #FindsFriday #numismatics 🏺
A tiny (14mm, 0.88g) silver #IronAge coin from western Brittany, found in the 2012 Le Câtillon hoard on Jersey. Helmeted head left/horse right with winged figure below, holding a torc. #FindsFriday #archaeology #numismatics 🏺
November 14, 2025 at 9:07 AM
A tiny (14mm, 0.88g) silver #IronAge coin from western Brittany, found in the 2012 Le Câtillon hoard on Jersey. Helmeted head left/horse right with winged figure below, holding a torc. #FindsFriday #archaeology #numismatics 🏺
For #TombTuesday here's a late 19th century view of La Varde on #Guernsey, constructed c.4100 BC. The capstone at the far left is ridiculously thick and weighs an estimated 30 tonnes... #archaeology 🏺
November 11, 2025 at 8:35 AM
For #TombTuesday here's a late 19th century view of La Varde on #Guernsey, constructed c.4100 BC. The capstone at the far left is ridiculously thick and weighs an estimated 30 tonnes... #archaeology 🏺
Beautiful morning light at Pleinmont #Guernsey today #photography
October 31, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Beautiful morning light at Pleinmont #Guernsey today #photography
Today's #IronAge #coin for #FindsFriday: a gold quarter stater of the Osismii, max 15mm diameter, with an eagle? gryphon? head on the horse, in place of the usual human head. From Le Câtillon, Jersey. #archaeology #numismatics
October 24, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Today's #IronAge #coin for #FindsFriday: a gold quarter stater of the Osismii, max 15mm diameter, with an eagle? gryphon? head on the horse, in place of the usual human head. From Le Câtillon, Jersey. #archaeology #numismatics
Another lovely #IronAge #coin for #FindsFriday - this is a gold stater of the Osismii (western Brittany), with a winged figure beneath the horse holding a torc. Probably early first century BC. Found in the Le Catillon II hoard in #Jersey in 2012 #archaeology #numismatics
October 17, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Another lovely #IronAge #coin for #FindsFriday - this is a gold stater of the Osismii (western Brittany), with a winged figure beneath the horse holding a torc. Probably early first century BC. Found in the Le Catillon II hoard in #Jersey in 2012 #archaeology #numismatics
A blast from the past - well, 2016 - for #TombTuesday, with my son admiring the face on the capstone in the Dehus dolmen, #Guernsey #archaeology
October 14, 2025 at 8:12 AM
A blast from the past - well, 2016 - for #TombTuesday, with my son admiring the face on the capstone in the Dehus dolmen, #Guernsey #archaeology
Can't let #FindsFriday go past without another fine Iron Age coin. This is a base silver stater attributed (probably wrongly) to the Veneti, in southern Brittany. Diameter 22mm. Note the recumbent figure below the horse - what is he holding? #archaeology #numismatics 🏺
October 3, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Can't let #FindsFriday go past without another fine Iron Age coin. This is a base silver stater attributed (probably wrongly) to the Veneti, in southern Brittany. Diameter 22mm. Note the recumbent figure below the horse - what is he holding? #archaeology #numismatics 🏺
St Peter Port #Guernsey skyline just now #photography
September 29, 2025 at 5:56 PM
St Peter Port #Guernsey skyline just now #photography
For #StandingStoneSunday, a marvellous photo of Callanish, complete with (Victorian?) policeman... #archaeology #Scotland 🏺
September 28, 2025 at 2:36 PM
For #StandingStoneSunday, a marvellous photo of Callanish, complete with (Victorian?) policeman... #archaeology #Scotland 🏺
Late in the day but struggling to upload images - for #FindsFriday & #FlintFriday, a beautiful flint axe from Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, acquired by Frederick Lukis from Mr Talbot, c.1850. Watercolour of other side probably by his daughter Mary-Ann Lukis. #archaeology 🏺
September 26, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Late in the day but struggling to upload images - for #FindsFriday & #FlintFriday, a beautiful flint axe from Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, acquired by Frederick Lukis from Mr Talbot, c.1850. Watercolour of other side probably by his daughter Mary-Ann Lukis. #archaeology 🏺
Five go mad on Vazon beach, or, our French/British team sampling peat deposits #archaeology #Guernsey 🏺
September 25, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Five go mad on Vazon beach, or, our French/British team sampling peat deposits #archaeology #Guernsey 🏺
We are digging with French colleagues here and the entente cordiale is being strained by their use of the rasette – personally I would confiscate them at the border and replace them with a WHS trowel, but what do you think? #archaeology #Guernsey 🏺
September 23, 2025 at 1:28 PM
We are digging with French colleagues here and the entente cordiale is being strained by their use of the rasette – personally I would confiscate them at the border and replace them with a WHS trowel, but what do you think? #archaeology #Guernsey 🏺
A while since I posted a nice Iron Age #coin, so for #FindsFriday here's a silver quarter stater loosely attributed to the Baiocasses in Normandy. From the Le Câtillon hoard, #Jersey. Fine example of the human-headed horse on the reverse which dominates the coinage of this region. #numismatics 🏺
September 19, 2025 at 1:22 PM
A while since I posted a nice Iron Age #coin, so for #FindsFriday here's a silver quarter stater loosely attributed to the Baiocasses in Normandy. From the Le Câtillon hoard, #Jersey. Fine example of the human-headed horse on the reverse which dominates the coinage of this region. #numismatics 🏺
For #TombTuesday, here's the Sandy Hook #Guernsey cist-in-circles, at the time of its first excavation in 1912. Postcard by Thomas Bramley, renowned local photographer #archaeology 🏺
September 16, 2025 at 8:27 AM
For #TombTuesday, here's the Sandy Hook #Guernsey cist-in-circles, at the time of its first excavation in 1912. Postcard by Thomas Bramley, renowned local photographer #archaeology 🏺
Some exciting Neolithic settlement evidence coming up on Herm in the Channel Islands, but the picture doesn't quite convey the difficulty of standing up on site in the gale blowing this morning... #Guernsey #archaeology
September 15, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Some exciting Neolithic settlement evidence coming up on Herm in the Channel Islands, but the picture doesn't quite convey the difficulty of standing up on site in the gale blowing this morning... #Guernsey #archaeology
Not off to a great start, says the proofreader in me - paletts?
September 12, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Not off to a great start, says the proofreader in me - paletts?
This arrived today so basically everything else is on hold for the next day or two... #slowhorses @baskervillejmp.bsky.social
September 12, 2025 at 7:36 PM
This arrived today so basically everything else is on hold for the next day or two... #slowhorses @baskervillejmp.bsky.social
September 10, 2025 at 9:06 PM