Stater 'Atrebatic B'

The Atrebates who struck this coinage were a Belgic tribe whose territory straddled what is now the English Channel — the British branch having crossed from Gaul sometime in the late second or early first century BC, bringing Continental minting traditions with them. The broader 'B' classification groups several die-linked variants that numismatists have progressively separated through ABC and Van Arsdell's work, which is why the reference spread here runs across multiple catalogue numbers rather than resolving to one.

Caesar's campaigns against the Continental Atrebates in 57 BC and again in 51 BC almost certainly disrupted cross-channel political ties, leaving the British branch increasingly autonomous — a pressure that may partly explain the proliferation of local die varieties during this period.