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Only six Snettisham
Corn Ears gold
quarter staters are
known. This is the
third we've had and
it's the best we've
had: almost EF,
really boldly
struck.
Like the
double-moon emblem,
the corn-ear theme
was originally
devised by the
Catuvellauni, then
adopted and adapted
by the Iceni. Dr
Philip de Jersey
writes: “Much rarer
than the regular
Snettisham type,
with just five other
examples recorded
including the coin
in the British
Museum (BMC 3435).
The obverse design
in particular was a
great deal larger
than the flan, and
even on the biggest
surviving example
little more than
half of the design
is visible. What it
shows is unusually
ornate, with one or
possibly two beaded
lines forming the
border to the coin,
within which is the
corn-ear wreath with
beaded crescents and
pellets or rings to
each side. Perhaps
the engraver was
more comfortable
with this tracery
than with the horse:
it, in comparison,
is very
two-dimensional,
stiff in appearance
and with just a
single rear leg and
foreleg."
Chris Rudd January
list.
5.1.09 |
