Description
Click here to see a video of this coin. Durotriges Cranborne Chase silver stater. 5.14g, 18.28mm. ABC 2157.
A nicely shaped chunky flat flan with clear features struck from slightly porous silver. The reverse centring causes the pellets above the horse form an unusual pellet rosette, and shows the rarely seen exergual decoration which is composed of triangular segments with pellet infills.
The meaning of the reverse design is unclear, but Dr. Daphne Nash Briggs proposed that it is related to the ancient belief that the sun was pulled across the heavens every day in a chariot, returning every night on the ocean. She notes that:
- The coins are silver rather than gold, representing the moon rather than the sun
- The horse faces left (east) which is the direction it would travel at night
- The horse looks tired, droopy, and appears to have a nose bag
- The horse appears to have a dim sun-like disc below it
The horse has twelve moons on its back plus a smaller object about one third their size. There are twelve and one third lunar months in a year.
Information
| Tribe | Durotriges |
|---|---|
| Type | Cranborne Chase |
| Denomination | Silver Stater |
| Rarity | Very Common |
| Weight | 5.14g |
| References | ABC 2157 |
| Date | 60 – 20 BC |
| Diameter | 18.28 mm |
| Region | South Western |
