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Here's a splendid,
military-style gold stater
which features a complete
iron-age war-trumpet (carnyx)
held aloft by a
Catuvellaunian cavalryman
galloping into battle -
well, his horse is. He's
wearing a wide-rimmed
helmet and his torso is
protected by what looks like
a close-fitting tunic of
chain-mail. This is a really
magnificent Tasciovanos
Warrior gold stater which
can confidently be graded
'almost Extremely Fine'.
It's struck on a chunky flan
of gorgeous rose gold and
both sides are well centred,
which makes this type even
more desirable on account of
the symmetry of the obverse
design. This Series B is an
extremely rare type which an
excessively rare die
pairing. Rainer Kretz, who
knows more about these
staters than anyone else on
the planet, comments: “This
most attractive example of a
2nd coinage
stater belongs to my series
B, as the secondary
crescents at 1 and 7 o’clock
are solid and not outline as
in series A. It belongs to
my obverse type B/B1 and
features a number of hidden
faces, which mostly resemble
owls or animals rather than
human beings. In line with
the vast majority of series
B staters there are three
pellets dividing the two
central crescents. The
reverse is closest to my
reverse type II var. C,
except for the letter T,
which is missing from its
usual place between horse’s
tail, and rider’s raised
arm. Rather than having been
omitted altogether, there is
a good chance it may have
been placed on the other
side of the carnyx on this
particular die. This example
has the added attraction of
showing the whole of the war
trumpet - a feature all too
often missing from this type
- as well as the chain-mail
or cuirass worn by the
rider. At the time of my
study in 2000, there were
only two coins (CCI 73.0220
& 97.1825) recorded from
this obverse die (O) and
reverse die (18).”
The ‘hidden faces’ on the
obverse of this gorgeous
gold stater could well be
stylised renderings of
badgers’ faces which, you
will recall, have two broad
black stripes on them (from
ears to snout, including
eyes) – not unlike the
curved wreath-bands
connected to the piercing
pellet-in-ring eyes seen
here. After all, the king’s
name means ‘badger-slayer’.
Chris Rudd
September list. 9.8.10 |
