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Silver Unit - Berkshire Crested Head
| Issuer | Atrebates and Regini tribes (Celtic Britain) |
|---|---|
| Year | 55 BC - 40 BC |
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| Composition | Silver |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A stylised horse depicted in the Celtic La Tène manner, prancing to the right across an irregular flan. Above the horse's back is a prominent wheel or sun symbol formed by a central pellet surrounded by a ring of pellets with radiating spokes, a motif commonly associated with Atrebatic coinage. The field is populated with scattered pellets, annulets, and decorative ornaments both above and below the horse. The horse's anatomy is rendered in a fluid, schematic style with a curved body and elongated limbs, consistent with the Berkshire Crested Head series. No inscription is present, reflecting the uninscribed nature of this pre-Romanisation issue. |
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| Mintage | ND (55 BC - 40 BC) |
| Additional information |
The Atrebates arrived in southern Britain almost certainly in the wake of Caesar's Gallic campaigns, when Commius — appointed king of the Belgic Atrebates by Caesar himself — fled across the Channel after turning against Rome. The tribal coinage that followed reflects a society reorganizing under military pressure, with silver units like this one circulating as elite exchange instruments rather than everyday currency.
The "Berkshire" designation is modern, derived from the findspot distribution concentrated in the Thames Valley and surrounding downlands where Atrebatic political authority was centered before Calleva Atrebatum solidified as the tribal capital.