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Facing Horses. Right Type. c.50-40 BC. East Wiltshire. Celtic silver unit. 15mm. 1.34g.
Facing Horses. Right Type. c.50-40 BC. Silver unit. 15mm. 1.34g. Two horses rearing face to face, harness between noses, S-shape tail raised, cogwheel between, two smaller opposed horses below, rings around./ Horse right, ladder-like mane, cogwheel in front, small inverted horse and cogwheel above, boar-standard right below. ABC−, VA−, BMC−, S−. PAS: NMS-253901 (this coin). EF, large flan of bright silver, super sharp horse with tiny horse and boar both fully revealed. Unlisted by all major reference works. Easily the finest known example. Found Shifford, Oxon. EXCESSIVELY RARE only two others known.
The distinctive opposed horses and its ‘three-beast’ reverse all indicate that this beautifully designed coin could be equally at home with the Abingdon Zoo types from Berkshire (cf. ABC 1001-1007, 2113-2116, 2273). Britain’s facing horses coins were undoubtedly inspired by and copied from the Gallo-Belgic series of aux chevaux affrontés types, DT 433-443. Indeed the dies for our remarkable coin could well have been cut for a southern British ruler by a Gallo-Belgic émigré, fleeing from the Gallic Wars. Opposed animals can be seen on Iron Age scabbards found in the River Thames at Hammersmith and Battersea, London. The boar isn’t a three-legged boar, but a boar on a battle-standard, as often seen on Gaulish coins (e.g. LT 4484, 9044, 9078, 9147, 9189). The three ‘cogwheel’ suns all indicate that the horses are sun-horses overcoming the forces of darkness, as symbolised by the boar, a creature of dark forests.
Facing Horses. Right Type. c.50-40 BC. Silver unit. 15mm. 1.34g. Two horses rearing face to face, harness between noses, S-shape tail raised, cogwheel between, two smaller opposed horses below, rings around./ Horse right, ladder-like mane, cogwheel in front, small inverted horse and cogwheel above, boar-standard right below. ABC−, VA−, BMC−, S−. PAS: NMS-253901 (this coin). EF, large flan of bright silver, super sharp horse with tiny horse and boar both fully revealed. Unlisted by all major reference works. Easily the finest known example. Found Shifford, Oxon. EXCESSIVELY RARE only two others known.
The distinctive opposed horses and its ‘three-beast’ reverse all indicate that this beautifully designed coin could be equally at home with the Abingdon Zoo types from Berkshire (cf. ABC 1001-1007, 2113-2116, 2273). Britain’s facing horses coins were undoubtedly inspired by and copied from the Gallo-Belgic series of aux chevaux affrontés types, DT 433-443. Indeed the dies for our remarkable coin could well have been cut for a southern British ruler by a Gallo-Belgic émigré, fleeing from the Gallic Wars. Opposed animals can be seen on Iron Age scabbards found in the River Thames at Hammersmith and Battersea, London. The boar isn’t a three-legged boar, but a boar on a battle-standard, as often seen on Gaulish coins (e.g. LT 4484, 9044, 9078, 9147, 9189). The three ‘cogwheel’ suns all indicate that the horses are sun-horses overcoming the forces of darkness, as symbolised by the boar, a creature of dark forests.
Chris Rudd Auction 173
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