LOT 2749
Celtic Britannia. Cantiaci Cast Potin Unit. Circa 90-60 BC. Three Dots type.
Linear head to left, three dots in centre / Stylised bull to left. ABC 162; VA 122; BMC-; SCBC 63. Good Very Fine. Broken. Excessively rare; no other examples on CoinArchives.(1.19gr, 16mm, 4h.).
ProvenanceEx Chris Rudd, LL33, lot 19, ref. no.12923 (dealer's ticket included).
From the private collection of John Meredith, acquired since the 1990s; thence by descent.
One of the rarest of Kentish potins. This specimen is desirable because it displays a neat casting tang and because striations are clearly visible on the obverse, caused by a piece of wood used to smooth off the unbaked clay casting mould before the lines of the head were scribed.
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AUCTIONS:
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Celts in Lower Danube AR Tetradrachm. Circa 300-100 BC. Imitating Alexander III and Philip III of Macedon.
Sold for (Inc. bp): £39
Degraded head of Herakles to right / Stylised Zeus seated to left, holding eagle in right hand and sceptre with left. Cf. Lanz 910-932. 15.62gr, 29mm, 12h.
Fine.
London, UK, dealership, 1990s. -
Celtic Britannia. Atrabates and Regni, Verica AR Minim. AD 10-20. Verica Sphinx Right type.
Sold for (Inc. bp): £338
CⵙMMⵙIFⵙ, bare male head to right; all within beaded border / VE-R-I (anticlockwise), Sphinx seated to right, with wings spread; all within beaded border. ABC 1340, VA -; BMC 1587-89; SCBC 163. 0.23gr, 8mm, 5h.
Near Extremely Fine. A miniature masterpiece. Exceedingly rare. Only twelve other recorded (when sold); no other examples on CoinArchives.
Ex Chris Rudd, 123, lot 26, ref. no.15994 (dealer's ticket included). Found near Ford, Arundel. From the private collection of John Meredith, acquired since the 1990s; thence by descent.
Dr John Creighton says: 'One of the most potent symbols was that on the signet ring of Augustus himself: the sphinx. Octavian had used this image in Rome during the Triumvirate, and its significance grew as he continued to use it as his defining image on his signet ring. It was his distinctive seal. Tasciovanus was the first to use the image in Britain, followed by Sego, Cunobelin and Verica' (Coins and Power in Late Iron Age Britain, 2000, p.107). -
Celtic Britannia. Atrebates and Regni, Verica AR Minim. Circa AD 10-40. Verica Temple type.
Sold for (Inc. bp): £156
Roman-style temple flanked by C-F (retrograde) / Bull butting to right, VER (retrograde) above, REX in exergue. VA 553-1; BMC 1538-41; ABC 1316; SCBC 152. 0.31gr, 8mm, 4h.
Very Fine. Toned. Very rare.
Ex Chris Rudd, 82, lot 27, ref. no.9077 (dealer's ticket included). From the private collection of John Meredith, acquired since the 1990s; thence by descent.
Chris Rudd notes: 'Why are the letters C F upside-down, relative to the temple? Did the Celtic engraver have some other interpretation in mind for this motif? Or were there two engravers, one in charge of the inscription, who didn't realize what he was looking at?'
