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Silver Unit - Belgae Danebury Moon Head
| Issuer | Atrebates and Regini tribes (Celtic Britain) |
|---|---|
| Year | 55 BC - 45 BC |
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| Currency | Stater |
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| Obverse description | Stylised abstract head rendered in the distinctive late Iron Age Celtic manner, depicted in right profile as a crescent or lunate form — essentially a triangle with concave curved sides — evoking a highly schematised facial silhouette. A prominent boss occupies the chin area. Immediately before the face appears a distinctive ornate motif commonly described as a woodlouse or an elongated ovoid device, richly detailed with internal patterning. The field below and before the face is decorated with pellet-in-ring motifs, typical of the Danebury type series, lending the composition its characteristically intricate and rhythmic decorative quality. |
|---|---|
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| Mintage | ND (55 BC - 45 BC) |
| Additional information |
The Danebury Moon Head type takes its name from Danebury hillfort in Hampshire, where significant concentrations of Atrebatic coinage were recovered during Barry Cunliffe's excavations in the 1970s and 80s — though the type circulated well beyond that site. The decade bracketing its production coincides almost exactly with Caesar's two British expeditions of 55 and 54 BC, which destabilized tribal politics across the southeast and accelerated the fragmentation of coinage authority among competing Atrebatic factions.
Van Arsdell 282 is a scarce subtype within the broader Moon Head sequence, distinguished by die-specific variations in the lunar arc treatment that specialists use to sequence the series chronologically.