Catalog
Silver Unit Cotswold Oxo Head Type E / Antedrig Head Type
| Issuer | Dobunni tribe (Celtic Britain) |
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| Year | 10 BC - 10 AD |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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| Obverse description | Highly stylised Celtic lunate head facing right, rendered in the characteristic Dobunnic abstract manner. The facial features display the distinctive OXO pattern, comprising two pellet-in-ring motifs flanking a central incuse X, forming the eyes and nose of the face. The lips are rendered as stalks, and the hair is depicted by triads of small pellets arranged in arcs behind the head. A cross with a pellet-in-ring device appears in the lower field below the chin. The overall treatment is more schematised than related Cotswold Eagle coinage, reflecting the late Iron Age Dobunnic artistic tradition. |
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| Reverse description | A triple-tailed annulate horse striding left, rendered in the highly stylised abstract tradition characteristic of late British Iron Age coinage. Below the horse, a three-petal flower or triskele-like floral motif occupies the lower field. Above the horse, a highly abstracted bird-head device incorporating a crescent and winged pellet-in-ring motif serves as the customary Celtic flying symbol. Two pellets are positioned above the horse's tail in the upper field. The composition is typical of the Dobunnic silver unit series, combining zoomorphic and geometric decorative elements in a fluid, curvilinear style. |
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| Additional information |
The Dobunni occupied the Severn valley and surrounding uplands — roughly modern Gloucestershire and parts of Oxfordshire — and their silver coinage emerged relatively late compared to neighboring tribes, likely reflecting a political consolidation under named rulers in the decades surrounding the Roman invasion. The name Antedrig appears on related issues and is one of only a handful of pre-conquest Dobunnic ruler names known from the coinage itself, though whether these names denote kings, sub-kings, or magistrates remains unresolved among Iron Age specialists.
Van Arsdell's sequencing places this type near the end of Dobunnic silver production, before Roman administrative reorganization made indigenous coin minting redundant.