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Silver Unit - Regni Chichester Lyre
| Issuer | Atrebates and Regini tribes (Celtic Britain) |
|---|---|
| Year | 55 BC - 45 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Hammered |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A stylised horse prancing to the right, executed in the abstract Celtic manner with elongated limbs and radiating line groups suggesting movement. Beneath the horse appears a crude lyre motif, the defining type feature of this issue, composed of a U-shaped frame with internal vertical lines. The field is populated with scattered ring-and-dot annulets and pellets, typical decorative elements of Atrebatic silver coinage. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
The Atrebates entered the Roman orbit earlier than most southern British tribes — Commius, their king, had served as Caesar's envoy to Britain before defecting and eventually fleeing there himself after the Gallic Wars. This coin type falls squarely within that turbulent transition period, when tribal coinage in the region was shifting from Continental prototypes toward increasingly abstract local idioms. The lyre motif on this type is a striking example of that abstraction, though its precise political or ritual significance within Atrebatic coinage remains unresolved among specialists.