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Gold Plated 1/4 Stater - Belgae Winchester Cross Wreath Contemporary Counterfeit
| Issuer | Atrebates and Regini tribes (Celtic Britain) |
|---|---|
| Year | 55 BC - 45 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Hammered |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse description | A stylised horse advancing to the right occupies the central field, rendered in the schematic Celtic manner characteristic of southern British Iron Age coinage. The horse is depicted with a single sinuous tail curving upward. Beneath the horse, two pellets and a ring serve as ground-line ornaments, a recurring subsidiary motif of the Atrebatic quarter stater series. The flan is small and irregular, and the bronze core is exposed through worn and pitted surfaces with traces of residual gold plating. No legend or inscription is present. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Contemporary counterfeits of Atrebatic quarter staters are well-documented but rarely surface in identifiable condition. These plated pieces — struck from the same dies as official issues, or near-identical copies — circulated alongside genuine gold coinage, suggesting either organized production or tacit acceptance within local exchange networks. The deliberate plating over a bronze core required real metallurgical skill, which complicates any simple dismissal of these as crude fakes.
ABC 830 places the genuine type within the late pre-conquest issues of the Atrebates, a tribe whose territory straddled modern Hampshire and Sussex. At 0.76g, this piece falls well below even a genuine quarter stater's already reduced weight.