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Potin Unit Rounded Bull / Holman D7
| Issuer | Cantii tribe (Celtic Britain) |
|---|---|
| Year | 95 BC - 80 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | 15.9 mm |
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| Obverse description | Highly stylised, degenerate head rendered in the Celtic abstract tradition, depicted either facing left or right depending on die variety. The head is composed of bold curvilinear lines, with facial features reduced to schematic elements including a prominent circular or pellet eye (present in certain die varieties, absent in others), a curved neck line, and rudimentary facial outline. The overall design reflects the late Iron Age Celtic artistic convention of abstraction over naturalism. No legend or inscription is present in the field. |
|---|---|
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| Mintage | ND (95 BC - 80 BC) - D7/1-1: Head left, no eye pellet. Bull left - ND (95 BC - 80 BC) - D7/1-2: Head left, with eye pellet. Bull left - ND (95 BC - 80 BC) - D7/3-1: Head right, no eye pellet. Bull left - ND (95 BC - 80 BC) - D7/3-2: Head right, with eye pellet. Bull left - ND (95 BC - 80 BC) - D7/3-3: Head right, with eye pellet, no neck line. Bull left, inner legs shortened and terminated by a horizontal line - ND (95 BC - 80 BC) - D7/4-1: Head right, with eye pellet. Bull right - |
| Additional information |
Potin coinage among the Cantii was not minted in any conventional sense — these pieces were cast in clay or stone moulds, likely in small batches, producing the irregular flans and surface porosity that define the type. The Holman D7 classification within this series reflects a specific die grouping identified by numismatist John Holman in his systematic study of Kentish potin, separating what earlier cataloguers had lumped together under broad typological headings.
Cast rather than struck, these circulated across what is now Kent during a period of intensifying cross-Channel contact with Belgic Gaul — the alloy itself imitating, at some remove, the bronze coinage of Massalia.