Gold Plated Stater Middle Whaddon Big Wheel Contemporary Counterfeit

The Whaddon Chase type sits within the broader Gallo-Belgic tradition that swept into Britain during the late first century BC, but contemporary counterfeits of this type — plated bronze cores disguised with gold wash — tell a more immediate story about the pressures on Catuvellaunian exchange. These are not modern forgeries; they circulated alongside the genuine article and were almost certainly produced locally, possibly tolerated or even issued semi-officially during periods when bullion was scarce.

Van Arsdell 1487-03 is among the rarer die pairings in the Middle Whaddon sequence.