Description
Click here to see a video of this coin. Durotriges Cranborne Chase silver stater with beautiful gold toning. 5.44g, 18.12mm. ABC 2157.
A nicely shaped chunky flat flan with clear features and a lovely golden toning. Slight tong marks to the bottom right of the obverse and corresponding top right of the reverse. Clear “Safety pin head” on the horse.
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 | 5.44g |
| References | ABC 2157 |
| Date | 60 – 20 BC |
| Diameter | 18.12 mm |
| Region | South Western |
