Catalog
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| Issuer | Dobunni tribe (Celtic Britain) |
|---|---|
| Year | 20-43 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Stater |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Obverse displays a highly stylised and abstracted design derived from a classical wreath or tree motif, rendered in the distinctive Celtic linear tradition. A bold central vertical element intersects with multiple horizontal branches, forming a ladder- or tree-like device that occupies the full field of the flan. The surfaces are characteristically irregular, reflecting the hand-struck hammered technique typical of late Iron Age British coinage. No inscriptions appear on this face. The design is executed in low relief with broad, flowing lines characteristic of Dobunnic artistic convention. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
The Dobunni occupied a substantial territory in what is now Gloucestershire and surrounding counties, and by the early first century AD their coinage had become among the most sophisticated of any British tribe — gold staters naming individual rulers circulated as instruments of political authority in a region that maintained trade contact with Gaulish networks. The "Eisu Eisu Ricu" inscription places this stater among a small group of late Dobunnic issues where the ruler's name appears with the title "ricu," a Brittonic term for king or ruler, which is rare enough in the epigraphic record to attract continued debate among Celtic scholars.
The tribe surrendered to Aulus Plautius during the Claudian invasion of 43 AD, ending Dobunnic coinage production entirely.