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Stater Thumbs Up / Late Whaddon Chase Type
| Issuer | Cantii tribe (Celtic Britain) |
|---|---|
| Year | 45 BC - 40 BC |
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| Value | Gold Stater (1) |
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| Obverse description | Blank or nearly blank convex surface in the characteristic Celtic tradition derived from the degraded laureate head of Apollo, retaining only faint vestiges of the original Hellenistic prototype. The flan is slightly domed and irregular in outline, with the gold surface showing a smooth, largely featureless field. Scattered incuse striations and surface marks are present, consistent with the hammered flan preparation technique. No inscription or legend appears on this face. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Highly stylised Celtic horse galloping to the right, rendered in the bold, abstracted manner characteristic of the Late Whaddon Chase series. Above the horse, a prominent disjointed mane of pellet-tipped spikes is visible, along with scattered pellets and annulets in the field. Beneath the horse, a distinctive six-spoked wheel motif occupies the lower field, flanked by additional pellets and curvilinear ornamental elements. A large bulbous head or 'thumbs up' motif appears to the left of the horse, a defining feature of this sub-type. The composition is dynamic and energetic, with undulating wave-like lines framing the design, all executed without inscription. |
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| Additional information |
The Whaddon Chase series takes its name from a hoard discovered in Buckinghamshire in 1849, which brought dozens of these north Kentish staters to the attention of collectors and dealers before proper archaeological recording was standard practice. The "Thumbs Up" sub-type is distinguished by a specific die characteristic rather than a separate iconographic intention — the feature that gives it the nickname is a byproduct of the die-cutting, not a deliberate gesture.
These staters circulated in the final decades before Caesar's campaigns fundamentally disrupted the coin-producing hierarchies of southeastern Britain. ABC 186 places this variety firmly within the Cantii attribution, though the boundaries between Cantian and neighboring Trinovantian issues remain contested among Celtic numismatists.