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Gold Plated Stater - Belgae Cheriton Smiler Contemporary Counterfeit
| Issuer | Atrebates and Regini tribes (Celtic Britain) |
|---|---|
| Year | 65 BC - 55 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Stater (1) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse description | Highly stylised and fragmented representation of a horse moving to the right, the characteristic reverse type of the Cheriton Smiler series and related Atrebatic stater coinage. The horse's body is broken into abstracted components — curved lines, pellets, and annulets — disposed across the flan in the manner typical of late British Iron Age die-engraving. Subsidiary symbols including pellets, crescents, and ring-and-dot motifs are scattered in the field around the horse. A rudimentary ground line composed of short strokes is visible below the horse. No inscription is present; the exposed bronze core shows considerable verdigris patination indicative of its status as a base-metal counterfeit of the period. |
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| Mintage | ND (65 BC - 55 BC) - Base core - ND (65 BC - 55 BC) - Gold plated - |
| Additional information |
Contemporary counterfeits of Gallo-Belgic staters circulated widely enough in late Iron Age Britain that tribal authorities appear to have made no serious effort to suppress them — purchasing power depended on weight and gold content, and a plated piece that passed muster in exchange was functionally acceptable until it wasn't. The "Smiler" type takes its name from the distinctive arc formed by the degraded classical head derived ultimately from Philip II of Macedon's stater coinage, transmitted through generations of Gallo-Belgic copying until the original source was barely recognizable.
The Cheriton find association places this forgery within a documented regional cluster from Hampshire — territory belonging to the Atrebates before Commius established his kingdom there following Caesar's Gallic campaigns.