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The two most notable highlights
of this delectable Middle
Whaddon Chase gold stater are
firstly the hidden faces on the
obverse and secondly the double
hidden face on the reverse which
is displayed more completely and
more clearly on this specimen
that any other I’ve seen. You’ll
observe that the upper crescent
appears to be a knobbed neck
torc or gold lunula which makes
this grim little head look
horned. Commenting on a previous
example, which sold for £3600,
Rainer Kretz says: “This is one
of the more unusual types of
Middle Whaddon Chase stater,
which has been known since
c.1840 and is engraved on plate
C, no.10 of Evans’ The coins
of the ancient Britons.
There are some minor differences
from the more common VA 1487 (CR
list 109, no. 44), the most
noticeable being the
introduction of the two curved
wreath segments and the
substitution of the wing above
the horse for a crescent. The
highly effective crossed wreath
design, which was shared with
some other Whaddon Chase types
as well as the Wonersh stater,
went on to have a major impact
upon the North Thames coinage
and left its indelible mark on
the stater coinages of
Addedomaros, Tasciovanos,
Andoco, and Cunobelinus. The
obverse of this particular type
forms the direct typological and
quite possibly also
chronological precursor to
Tasciovanos’s first coinage
stater (VA 1680 & 1682). It
already contains the two
fox-like hidden faces, which
Tasciovanos’s die cutters later
used as the basis for a
veritable hidden-faces
extravaganza on some of his
second coinage staters.” (Chris
Rudd List 111, No.45).
Chris Rudd's January 2012
catalogue.
19.12.11
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