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Dobunnic
gold staters seem to attract a
lot of attention, perhaps on
account of their unusual 'tree
of life' symbol and their
relative rarity, when compared
with the gold staters of other
tribes. Dating Dobunnic coins
isn’t easy. All we can usefully
say is that Eisu, along with
Anted, probably came last in the
line and may have ruled sometime
between about 20 and 43 AD. When
it came to striking gold staters
Eisu was no innovator. Both
sides of his staters are almost
the same as those issued by
Corio, Comux, Catti, Inamn and
Anted. Even the earliest
uninscribed gold staters of the
Dobunni look like the latest
produced by Eisu. As is so often
the case, the obverse die was
apparently used too long, which
is why the tree motif is
comparatively weak. The reverse
on the other hand is beautifully
bold. Most of the king’s name is
on the flan and all six spokes
of the sun-wheel stand out in
high relief, as does the
disjointed horse with a ‘safety
pin’ head which looks like a box
kite. You can even see the
miniature hidden face beneath
EISV. This is still a rare type
– scarcer than the staters of
Corio and Anted.
Chris Rudd
January catalogue.
23.11.09 |
