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Jesus warns of
'ravening wolves' (Matthew
7:15). But had
Jesus ever seen a
wolf as hungry or as
fierce as this wolf?
Its fangs are long.
A huge tongue hangs
out of its slavering
jaws. And just look
at those teeth -
like a mouth full of
six-inch steel
nails! This is a
Norfolk Wolf gold
stater to make your
mouth water. The
details are really
sharp; the wolf's
back bristles with
raised hackles and
you can clearly see
every single hair.
Moreover, as a
bonus, you get a
delightfully
decorated exergual
space: expanded gold
neck torcs with a
knob at each end and
a pellet (signifying
a gold coin
perhaps?) within
each cusp. This
ornamentation was
obviously derived
from Gallic War
Uniface gold staters
which were brought
to Britain, it is
thought, by
mercenary warriors
returning home from
fighting Caesar in
Gaul. We guess that
the engraver who cut
the dies for this
magnificent Norfolk
Wolf gold stater
must have had a
Gallic War Uniface
gold stater on the
bench in front of
him.
Chris Rudd March
list.
18.2.08 |
