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Gold Plated 1/4 Stater Kentish Horse Brooch / South Thames Banded Type Contemporary Counterfeit
| Issuer | Cantii tribe (Celtic Britain) |
|---|---|
| Year | 35 BC - 30 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Stater |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Plain, heavily corroded field retaining traces of gold plating over a bronze core, now largely oxidised to dark grey-brown with patches of green cuprite. Three raised horizontal bands traverse the flan in the characteristic South Thames Banded style, rendered in low relief with minimal additional ornament. The surface exhibits the pitted, irregular texture typical of a contemporary counterfeit struck from an improvised die, with the gold wash surviving only in scattered areas. No inscription or additional devices are present. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse description | A schematised horse leaping to the right occupies the central field, rendered in the abstract Celtic artistic tradition with attenuated limbs and no mane, consistent with the Kentish Horse Brooch type. A prominent U-shaped motif, interpreted as a large ring or lunate symbol, appears above the horse in the upper field. Additional pellet and crescent ornaments are scattered around the horse in the field, characteristic of late Iron Age Cantian coinage. The gold plating is better preserved on the reverse, with gilded high points lending contrast to the patinated bronze ground. No legend or inscription is present, the design relying entirely on symbolic imagery. |
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| Additional information |
Contemporary counterfeits of Kentish quarter staters circulated alongside genuine gold issues during the late Iron Age, suggesting either that the Cantii's trading networks were loose enough to absorb debased coinage without immediate detection, or that the plated pieces were tolerated as a matter of practical necessity. The bronze core with gold wash would have passed casual inspection; the weight loss, just fractions of a gram below genuine examples, was unlikely to register without deliberate testing.
BMC Iron 374 is the key reference tying this piece to the South Thames Banded classification rather than treating it as a forgery of later manufacture.