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What a
great jumping joy it is when you
encounter a Cunobelinus corn-ear
gold stater as nice as this
Classic Stalk Type gold stater!
Struck in a pretty pinky
gold, it is well centred,
displays a fabulously full ear
of wheat and the muscular horse
is rearing up on its hind legs
with flailing forelegs - a most
impressive beast. Moreover, the
inscription is complete on both
sides of the coin. Rainer Kretz,
the expert on North Thames
inscribed coinage, says:
“This particular variant of a
‘classic’ Cunobelinus stater has
a small pellet between the
letters C and A, probably some
form of privy-mark. The obverse
shows the usual corn ear, which
has here been stripped of all
non-essentials like scrolls and
now represents a visually
striking regal emblem. Of all
the seventeen reverse dies
listed in Derek Allen’s
‘Cunobelin’s Gold’ published in
1975, this is one of the finest
in artistic terms, falling not
far short of the slightly later
and much sought after
left-facing version (VA 2029).
It portrays a beautifully
proportioned and well-muscled
horse rearing up on its hind
legs and is clearly the work of
a master engraver who may well
have been classically trained.
When Derek Allen examined
Cunobelin’s Gold in 1975 he
recorded just four coins from
die combination Gh, a number
that may now have risen to
around twenty. A coin from the
same dies was offered in C. Rudd
list 88, no. 54.” Chris Rudd
January catalogue.
21.12.09 |
