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Silver Minim - Commios Commios Moon Head
| Issuer | Atrebates and Regini tribes (Celtic Britain) |
|---|---|
| Year | 45 BC - 30 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Stylised Celtic head facing right, rendered in the abstract La Tène artistic tradition characteristic of late British Iron Age coinage. The facial features are suggested by pellets and curved lines, with a prominent eye indicated by a pellet-in-ring motif. The hair is represented by a series of large spiral scrolls flanking the face, a hallmark design element associated with the so-called 'moon head' type. The entire composition fills the irregular flan with fluid, curvilinear forms typical of Atrebatic miniature silver coinage. No legend or inscription is present. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Plain (irregular) |
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| Additional information |
Commios was, by any measure, an exceptional figure in late Iron Age Britain — a Gaulish chieftain installed as king of the Atrebates by Julius Caesar himself, who later turned against Rome and fled to Britain following a failed assassination attempt against him by Roman officers during the Gallic Wars. His subsequent British coinage represents one of the few instances where a named individual from Caesar's own written accounts can be directly connected to surviving numismatic material.
Minims of this type are among the smallest coins produced in pre-Roman Britain, struck at weights that challenge even careful handling. The moon-head series is attributed to his later reign, after the break with Rome was complete.