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Silver Unit East Wiltshire - Potterne Moon Head
| Issuer | Brittonic, Uncertain tribe |
|---|---|
| Year | 50 BC - 20 BC |
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| Composition | Silver |
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| Obverse description | Stylised head facing right in the so-called 'Moon Head' tradition of Late Iron Age Celtic coinage, rendered in a highly abstracted manner characteristic of the Dobunnic–Wiltshire artistic milieu. A prominent sunburst motif occupies the chin area, while the hair is rendered as a series of crescentic arcs typical of the period. The lips are depicted as stalks or pellet-tipped projections, and the overall composition is bounded by a beaded or pellet border. No legend or inscription is present, the design occupying the full flan in the manner of uninscribed British silver units. |
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| Mintage | ND (50 BC - 20 BC) |
| Additional information |
The "Moon Head" series from East Wiltshire remains tribally unattributed — no ancient literary source names a tribe in this precise zone, and the archaeological distribution of finds has not yet produced a conclusive territorial boundary to assign the issue with confidence. Potterne, the find-spot that anchors the type's name, was an Iron Age settlement of some significance, but its relationship to whatever polity struck this coinage is still debated among specialists.
ABC 2131 represents one of the more localised uninscribed silver series of the late British Iron Age, with a find concentration tight enough to suggest highly regional circulation rather than inter-tribal exchange use.