Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Silver 1/2 Unit - Eastern North Thames Tail Chewer
| Issuer | Trinovantes tribe (Celtic Britain) |
|---|---|
| Year | 55 BC - 45 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Round (irregular) |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | A stylised Celtic horse facing right with a beaded mane, an uncertain object issuing from the mouth. The surrounding field is decorated with multiple pellet-in-ring motifs arranged around the central horse figure. The composition is characteristic of the Eastern North Thames series, with geometric filler elements filling the field in typical La Tène style. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | ND (55 BC - 45 BC) |
| Additional information |
The Trinovantes occupied territory roughly corresponding to modern Essex and southern Suffolk, and were among the first British tribes to experience direct Roman pressure — Caesar's two expeditions of 55 and 54 BC disrupted the political order of the southeast profoundly, and coin production in this period reflects that instability through fragmented, highly localized types that don't align neatly with any centralized minting authority. The "Tail Chewer" designation is a modern typological nickname, not an ancient one, applied by ABC cataloguers to distinguish this fractional issue within a dense cluster of related Trinovantian silver.
At under a gram, these fractions were almost certainly used for small-scale transactional exchange rather than tribute or elite gift-giving, where heavier units dominated.