66 AD. A substantial provincial lead pig (ingot) with flat base and chamfered sides, reserved partial inscription to central recess on the upper face '[.]VVII A II O CAESAR AVG [N?]' which could possibly be translated as '[Cast in the] Twelfth (VVII = 5+5+1+1 in Latin Number) Year (A) in the second day (II) of the month of October (O) of the Empire of CAESAR AVG N' (Caesar Augustus Nero"). See Tylecote, R.F., ‘Roman Lead Working in Britain’ in The British Journal for the History of Science, Vol.2, N.1, Jun.1964; Potter, T.W., Roman Britain, London, 1983, p.50, figs.55,57; Gardiner, V., ‘An analysis of Romano-British Lead Pigs’ in IAMS 21, 2001, pp.11-13; Brown, H.G., A study of Lead Ingot Cargoes from Mediterranean Shipwrecks, Vermont, 2011.72 kg, 55cm (21 1/2 "). Property of a South London collector; previously acquired on the European art market 1970-1980; accompanied by an archaeological report by Dr. Raffaele D’Amato; this lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by AIAD certificate number no.10384-169117. Lead was a commonly used metal in Roman times and the exploitation of Britain’s natural resources was one of the reasons cited by Roman authors for the invasion of Britain by the Emperor Claudius in AD 43. Britain and Spain were the most exploited provinces: Pliny, writing in the third quarter of the first century C.E., attests that Britain, in the Flavian Age, was quickly surpassing Spain in the production of lead ingots. Pigs were always fitted with inscriptions. The inscriptions were mainly confined to the smaller bottom surface (as cast) of the pig, and usually appear in a sunken panel, although in some cases the letters are not empanelled but are merely raised proud of the surface. Some pigs have inscriptions on the sides and ends which are merely stamped, or are in relief and not in panels. The presence of numeric markings on some examples has led to suggestions that a 'standard weight' of 195 Roman librae (63.85 kg) existed and pigs which varied from that were marked to indicate the excess.