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Bronze Unit Hengistbury One Leg
| Issuer | Durotriges tribe (Celtic Britain) |
|---|---|
| Year | 10-45 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Highly stylised and abstracted rendering derived from the classical Apollo head archetype, reduced to a forked Y-shaped spike element representing the vestigial remains of the laureate radiate head. Two pellets flank each arm of the spike on either side, occupying the open field. On certain specimens a crescent appears below the spike, serving as an additional decorative or symbolic element within the field. The design reflects the extreme decorative abstraction characteristic of late Durotrigan coinage. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
The Durotriges of Dorset and Somerset were among the last British tribes to resist Roman encroachment, and their coinage reflects that isolation. Where neighbouring tribes adopted increasingly Romanised silver and gold issues, the Durotriges retreated into a purely local bronze economy — the result of being cut off from continental trade networks by the mid-first century AD. This type belongs to that terminal phase, struck sometime in the decades before the Claudian invasion of 43 AD effectively ended indigenous tribal minting in the southwest.
The Hengistbury Head site, which gives this series its name, had been the tribe's primary port and trading centre for over a century before Roman disruption strangled that commerce.