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Silver Unit Herringbone Head Left
| Issuer | Iceni tribe (Celtic Britain) |
|---|---|
| Year | 15 BC - 20 AD |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Orientation | Variable alignment ↺ |
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| Obverse description | Stylised male head facing left in the abstract Celtic artistic tradition, rendered considerably larger than the flan so that peripheral details are frequently lost. The eye is depicted as a prominent oval coffee-bean form, and the ear is rendered in a large, schematic manner. The hair is arranged in a distinctive herringbone or corded pattern comprising at least three parallel ridged lines, characteristic of the Icenian silver unit series. |
|---|---|
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| Mintage | ND (15 BC - 20 AD) |
| Additional information |
The Iceni occupied what is now Norfolk and Suffolk, operating largely outside direct Roman commercial networks until Claudius's invasion of 43 AD brought the region into the provincial system. Their silver coinage — struck in the final decades before conquest — reflects a gradual debasement of the earlier Gallo-Belgic silver tradition rather than any Roman monetary influence. The "herringbone" nomenclature is a modern cataloguer's convention, derived from the distinctive treatment of the horse's mane as recorded in die studies by Van Arsdell.
Boudicca's revolt of 60–61 AD effectively ended Iceni tribal coinage as a functioning currency.