Gold Plated Stater - Belgae Cheriton Smiler Contemporary Counterfeit

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.