Details
LOT 2961
Celtic Britannia. Cantii AE Unit. Circa. 50-20 BC. North Thames. Boar and Pentagram type. KE 6.
Boar left, with prominent bristles and upturned snout, branch above, ring in front, ringed-pellet under / Horse stepping right, ring between and above front legs, pentagram under, pellet border. ABC 285; VA 167 var. (ring not ringed-pellet between and above horse's front legs); BMC 2490; S 176. Good Very Fine. Glossy brown patina, beautiful boar, well centred round flan. Very rare type. Extremely rare variant.(1.76gr, 14mm, 12h.).
Provenance
Found Springhead, Kent, in 2002.
Ex Matthew Rich collection.
Ex Chris Rudd, 123, lot 9, ref. no.16321.
From the private collection of John Meredith, acquired since the 1990s; thence by descent.
Footnotes
Boars are associated with forests; so we may suppose the branch represents a forest of trees. On the other hand it could be a victory palm-branch. The pentagram can be seen on other Cantian coins (ABC 249, 282, 309 and 354) and on the North Thames Dragon Cross silver unit (ABC 2258).
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