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Silver 1/2 Unit - Dubnovellaunos Dubnovellaunos Scissors
| Issuer | Trinovantes tribe (Celtic Britain) |
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| Year | 30 BC - 25 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | A stylised horse galloping to the right, rendered in the characteristic Celtic abstract tradition, with a beaded mane and a pellet motif on the chest. The animal's head is turned back towards the hindquarters. Three pellets, each enclosed within a ring, are depicted on stalks issuing from the horse's mouth, a decorative device typical of Trinovantian coinage of this period. |
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| Reverse description | A stylised horse advancing to the right, rendered in the same Celtic abstract manner as the obverse, with a beaded mane emphasising the decorative treatment of the animal. A pellet enclosed within a pellet ring occupies the field below the horse's body. Three pellets, each set within a ring, appear on stalks rising from the horse's back, mirroring the ornamental device found on the obverse. |
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| Additional information |
Dubnovellaunos ruled jointly over the Trinovantes and later the Cantii in the decades surrounding the Caesarian and Augustan interventions in Britain — a period when southern British rulers were actively negotiating diplomatic relationships with Rome while simultaneously minting coins that owed almost nothing to Roman monetary conventions. The "scissors" type, named by modern scholars for the shear-like motif derived from increasingly abstracted continental prototypes, represents a late stage in that devolution of imagery.
At 0.8g, these fractional pieces suggest a functioning small-denomination economy among the Trinovantes, though the precise exchange relationships remain disputed.