Catalog
Silver Unit Odin's Eye Wheel Type
| Issuer | Iceni tribe (Celtic Britain) |
|---|---|
| Year | 15 BC - 5 AD |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Highly stylised Celtic head facing right, rendered in the characteristic curvilinear La Tène artistic tradition. The visage is dominated by a prominent, boldly raised crescent eye formed from interlocking spiral motifs, giving the so-called 'Odin's Eye' effect. The hair is depicted as a series of deeply incised, flame-like striations radiating from the crown, bordered by a beaded outer margin. Curved linear elements suggesting a torque or neck ornament appear below the chin. The flan is irregular and slightly clipped, as is typical of Iceni silver units of this series. |
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| Reverse description | A stylised horse prancing to the left occupies the central field, its body formed from bold curved lines in the Iceni Celtic idiom. Above the horse's back is a prominent ringed-and-pelleted wheel motif — the defining 'Odin's Eye' wheel symbol of this type — accompanied by a smaller ring-and-pellet device in the upper field. A pellet-in-ring ornament appears to the left of the horse's head, and geometric linear elements, possibly representing a wheel or ground line, are visible beneath the horse. The field is plain and uninscribed, consistent with the broader Iceni uninscribed silver unit series. |
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| Additional information |
The Iceni occupied what is now Norfolk and northern Suffolk, maintaining an unusual degree of autonomy under early Roman influence — they were among the tribes that submitted diplomatically rather than by conquest following Claudius's invasion, though that arrangement ended catastrophically with the Boudiccan revolt of 60/61 AD. This silver unit predates that revolt by decades, struck during a period when Iceni tribal coinage was still a functioning currency rather than a political artifact. The "Odin's Eye Wheel" classification is a modern typological convenience; the Iceni themselves left no written record of what any design signified.