Coins, Historical Medals and Antiquities

British Iron Age, Early Uninscribed issues, Stater, British Q?, imitating the ‘à l’oeil’ type of the Suessiones, devolved head of Apollo right, V-shaped motif partially replacing wreath leaves, rev. disjointed triple-tailed horse right, charioteer’s arm and seven pellets above, six-spoked wheel below, 5.64g (cf. DT 168 for prototype; Sills –; ABC –; BMC –; S –). A few minor surface marks, otherwise better than very fine, attractive metal, unlisted in the standard references and seemingly extremely rare £700-£900

Provenance: Found at Lasham (Hampshire), 2021; PAS HAMP-A467C6.

The listing for this coin on the PAS website records it as a British Qa [Remic] type. Variations in obverse design suggests this is inaccurate. The standard Qa obverse features a wreath constructed of two parallel lines of leaves that run vertically across the ‘head’. On this coin, the upper part of the right leaf line is replaced by a ringed pellet from which two lines project in a V formation. Sills (2017), in his discussion of the Qa type, notes that the three known obverse dies used to strike coins of that class are all precise copies of a Gallo-Belgic prototype, the à l’ancre type. The V-shaped pattern seen on this coin is seen on the proceeding à l’oeil type, albeit in a slightly different location. The British findspot and marginally reduced weight of this coin are both consistent with it being a locally produced imitation

This coin is probably a Cheriton Wheel type