Catalog
Bronze Unit - Dubnovellaunos Lion Horseman
| Issuer | Cantii tribe (Celtic Britain) |
|---|---|
| Year | 30 BC - 10 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Bronze Unit |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | A mounted horseman galloping to the right, depicted in a schematic Celtic style with the rider raising a carnyx — a Celtic war trumpet with an animal-head bell — above his head. The figure and horse are rendered with characteristic Iron Age abstraction, the horse's body and legs reduced to sweeping curved forms. The inscription DVBN appears in the lower exergual field, an abbreviated form of the royal name Dubnovellaunos, identifying the issuing authority. The flan is irregular and the strike moderately flat in areas, consistent with struck bronze coinage of this period and region. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | DVBN |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Dubnovellaunos is one of the few Cantian rulers whose name appears on coinage, placing him in the small group of late Iron Age British kings whose political authority was sufficiently consolidated to warrant named issues. He is likely the same Dubnovellaunos mentioned in Augustus's Res Gestae as a British king who sent envoys — or possibly sought refuge — at the Roman court, suggesting a reign played out against the mounting pressure of Roman influence across the Channel.
The ABC 354 attribution places this within the typological sequence developed by Van Arsdell and refined by Cottam et al., distinguishing Cantian output from the overlapping coinages of the Trinovantes, with whom Dubnovellaunos may have had dynastic ties.