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Potin Unit Nipples / Dump Type / Holman G4

Issuer Cantii tribe (Celtic Britain)
Year 60 BC - 45 BC
Type Standard circulation coin
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Edge Plain
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Mintage ND (60 BC - 45 BC) - G4/6-1: Outline of head, right -
ND (60 BC - 45 BC) - G4/6-2: No outline of head, profile (right) only -
Additional information

Potin coinage among the Cantii was cast rather than struck — a distinction that explains the characteristic rough surfaces and irregular flan shapes that define the type. The "dump" classification simply reflects the thick, lumpen form produced by the casting process, not any degradation of the piece itself. Holman's classification work, building on Van Arsdell, helped untangle decades of misattribution within this series, as Cantian potins were long conflated with similar issues from the Trinovantes to the north.

By the mid-first century BC, potin was already an archaic monetary technology in Gaul, where struck coinage had largely taken over. Its continued use in southeast Britain likely reflects conservative local practice rather than technological isolation.

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