Catalog
Silver 1/2 Unit Harlow Horses
| Issuer | Catuvellauni tribe (Celtic Britain) |
|---|---|
| Year | 40 BC - 30 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 0.3 g |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | An annulate horse is depicted moving to the right, distinguished by stylised antler-like projections representing the ears, a hallmark design feature of the Harlow Horses type. A pellet-in-ring ornament is placed above the horse in the upper field, while a single pellet appears below the horse's body. The composition is rendered in the abstract, curvilinear Celtic artistic idiom, with the horse's anatomy reduced to schematised forms. The reverse field is otherwise plain, with no legend, inscription, or exergual line. The irregular flan edges reflect the hand-struck hammered technique standard for this series. |
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| Mintage | ND (40 BC - 30 BC) |
| Additional information |
The Catuvellauni dominated a substantial portion of what is now Hertfordshire and Essex in the decades before the Claudian invasion, and their coinage reflects a tribe at the height of regional influence — issuing fractional denominations that facilitated small-scale exchange across a trading network centered on oppida like Wheathampstead and later Verulamium. The "Harlow Horses" designation comes from findspot clustering around the Harlow temple complex in Essex, a ritual site where votive coin deposits have skewed the archaeological distribution of this type considerably.
At 0.3 g, these fractions were among the smallest silver pieces in circulation anywhere in late Iron Age Britain.