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Currency Bar Bay Leaf
| Issuer | Brittonic, Uncertain tribe |
|---|---|
| Year | 200 BC - 100 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Iron |
| 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 | Plain, undecorated iron blade of broad, tapering form narrowing progressively toward the tip, with an elongated pinched mid-section evoking the outline of a bay leaf. The surface is devoid of any decoration, inscription, or symbolic motif, consistent with the utilitarian nature of pre-monetary currency bars of Iron Age Britain. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Plain |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Iron currency bars are among the most debated objects in British Iron Age studies. Caesar's brief note in *De Bello Gallico* that the Britons used iron bars as a medium of exchange is the only ancient written source, and numismatists still argue about whether these objects functioned as currency at all, or as standardised trade blanks for smiths. The bay-leaf form is one of the more refined variants, suggesting at minimum a degree of intentional shaping beyond raw commodity iron.