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Silver 1/2 Unit - Belgae Danebury Cogwheel Leaves
| Issuer | Atrebates and Regini tribes (Celtic Britain) |
|---|---|
| Year | 55 BC - 45 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 0.5 g |
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| Obverse description | Four stylised leaves arranged symmetrically around a central cogwheel or spoked-wheel solar motif, the whole composition filling the flan in the abstract Celtic artistic tradition. Each leaf is rendered with a prominent central rib and rounded lobes, radiating outward from the central hub in the four cardinal positions. The design is executed in high relief with boldly modelled surfaces characteristic of late Iron Age British coinage. No inscription or legend is present; the field is otherwise plain. The irregular flan and variable die alignment are typical of hand-struck Celtic minor coinage of this series. |
|---|---|
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| Mintage | ND (55 BC - 45 BC) |
| Additional information |
The Atrebates occupied a territory spanning modern Hampshire and Berkshire, and their coinage emerged partly in response to Julius Caesar's two British expeditions of 55 and 54 BC, which disrupted existing tribute networks and accelerated the adoption of coin-using practices among southern British tribes. The "Danebury Cogwheel" type takes its name from the Iron Age hillfort in Hampshire where diagnostic examples have been recovered — find-spot association rather than mint location, since no Celtic British mint infrastructure in the Roman sense existed.
At half a gram, these fractions were likely used in transactions too small for the standard unit, though their precise role in the Atrebatan exchange system remains debated.