Catalog
Silver 1/2 Unit Puckeridge Bird Hare
| Issuer | Catuvellauni tribe (Celtic Britain) |
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| Year | 40 BC - 30 BC |
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| Currency | Stater |
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| Obverse description | A stylized hare depicted in profile facing right, rendered in the distinctive curvilinear Celtic artistic tradition. A zigzag motif occupies the lower field, conveying ground or movement. To the rear of the hare, a spoked wheel with pellet-decorated rim appears as a symbolic device. The entire composition is executed in bold, flowing relief lines characteristic of late Iron Age British coinage, with no inscription or lettering. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
The Catuvellauni occupied a swathe of territory north of the Thames — roughly modern Hertfordshire and beyond — and were among the more politically aggressive tribes in late pre-conquest Britain, expanding at the expense of neighbors well before Caesar's expeditions gave Rome any serious foothold in the island's affairs. Coins of this type take their collector name from the Puckeridge area of Hertfordshire, where significant concentrations have been found, consistent with the tribal heartland around Braughing.
At half a unit, this denomination sat at the fractional end of a silver coinage system whose upper denominations were already influenced by Gallo-Belgic imports.