Gold Stater Ornate Yoke

The Atrebates occupied territory spanning modern Sussex, Hampshire, and Berkshire — a tribal grouping with direct Continental roots, traditionally traced to Belgic migrants who crossed from Gaul sometime in the late second century BC. Their early coinage, including this stater type, derives stylistically from the Macedonian gold staters of Philip II, filtered through successive generations of Gaulish imitation until the original imagery became wholly abstract. The "ornate yoke" designation refers to a die-study classification in Sills rather than any ancient nomenclature.