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Potin Unit Curved Bull / Holman B4
| Issuer | Cantii tribe (Celtic Britain) |
|---|---|
| Year | 115 BC - 100 BC |
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| Currency | Stater |
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| Obverse description | Schematised outline bust of Apollo facing left, rendered in the degenerate Celtic tradition derived from Massaliot prototypes. The eye is depicted as an open ring without a central pellet, and a single line descends along the middle of the neck, serving as the neckline. The facial features are reduced to abstract linear elements characteristic of late Iron Age British potin coinage. |
|---|---|
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| Mintage | ND (115 BC - 100 BC) - B4/2-1: Head left, open eye ring joined to the neckline. Bull right, may have central pellet - ND (115 BC - 100 BC) - B4/2-2: Crude head left, elongated neckline (may join eye ring), upper crescent of profile may be indistinct from head, lower crescent absent. Bull right, sometimes pellet - |
| Additional information |
The Cantii occupied what is now Kent, and their potin coinage represents some of the earliest indigenous struck — or more precisely, cast — currency in Britain, predating the Roman invasion by well over a century. Potin itself is a tin-rich bronze alloy, and these pieces were almost certainly cast in strip moulds rather than struck, which explains the characteristically rough surfaces and irregular flan shapes that distinguish genuine examples from later imitations.
Holman's classification system subdivided Cantian potin into fine typological groupings based on stylistic degeneration across generations of copying. The B4 designation places this piece within a specific phase of that sequence.