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Cunobelinus Spiky Bearded. Catuvellauni & Trinovantes.c.AD8-41. Celtic silver unit. 11-15mm. 1.27g.
1/2
Auctioneer has chosen not to publish the price of this lot
Norwich, Norfolk
Description
Cunobelinus Spiky Bearded. c.AD8-41. Silver unit. 11-15mm. 1.27g. Head left with pointed beard and swept-back hair, CAM in front, [VL] behind./ Seated Victory right, arm raised holding bowl, ringed-pellet in front, CVN[O] in exergue. ABC−, VA−, BMC−, S−. Wavy flan, otherwise Good VF, lightly toned silver, magnificent head, boldly struck seated figure. Found Dunmow, Essex. EXCESSIVELY RARE only four others recorded.
The head is undoubtedly copied from the denarius of L.Hostilius Saserna featuring a Gallic captive (RCV 418, Crawford 448/2e). This is a fascinating situation. This is Cunobelin’s first portrait coin in silver and probably the first image he has had copied from a Roman denarius; and he decided to select an obviously Celtic head, not a Roman head like the fifteen other heads he later copied. Was this a deliberate choice? Yes, almost certainly. There is no mistaking the overtly Celtic feature of noble bearded head; the swept-back spiky hair, washed in lime-water to stiffen and bleach it, is a particularly Celtic characteristic, mentioned by classical authors. Previous generations of numismatists speculated that the head might be that of Vercingetorix, the famous Gaulish leader defeated by Caesar at Alesia in 52 BC and publicly executed in Rome in 46 BC. Less plausible is the suggestion that it could be the head of Cassivellaunos, commander of the British coalition against Caesar, who surrendered to Caesar in 54 BC. That said, the British were using chariots in battle after the Gauls had stopped and the chariot scene depicted on the Hostilius Saserna denarius looks very British, as does the chariot itself. The skill of British charioteers was of some concern for Caesar in 54 BC. He says: ‘The cavalry too, found it very dangerous work fighting the charioteers; for the Britons would generally give ground on purpose after drawing them some distance from the legions would jump down from their chariots and fight on foot, with the odds in their favour’ (De Bello Gallico 5:16). This is the first Cunobelin coin of its type we’ve sold since 2000. A rare opportunity to acquire an historically significant coin.
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Cunobelinus Spiky Bearded. c.AD8-41. Silver unit. 11-15mm. 1.27g. Head left with pointed beard and swept-back hair, CAM in front, [VL] behind./ Seated Victory right, arm raised holding bowl, ringed-pellet in front, CVN[O] in exergue. ABC−, VA−, BMC−, S−. Wavy flan, otherwise Good VF, lightly toned silver, magnificent head, boldly struck seated figure. Found Dunmow, Essex. EXCESSIVELY RARE only four others recorded.
The head is undoubtedly copied from the denarius of L.Hostilius Saserna featuring a Gallic captive (RCV 418, Crawford 448/2e). This is a fascinating situation. This is Cunobelin’s first portrait coin in silver and probably the first image he has had copied from a Roman denarius; and he decided to select an obviously Celtic head, not a Roman head like the fifteen other heads he later copied. Was this a deliberate choice? Yes, almost certainly. There is no mistaking the overtly Celtic feature of noble bearded head; the swept-back spiky hair, washed in lime-water to stiffen and bleach it, is a particularly Celtic characteristic, mentioned by classical authors. Previous generations of numismatists speculated that the head might be that of Vercingetorix, the famous Gaulish leader defeated by Caesar at Alesia in 52 BC and publicly executed in Rome in 46 BC. Less plausible is the suggestion that it could be the head of Cassivellaunos, commander of the British coalition against Caesar, who surrendered to Caesar in 54 BC. That said, the British were using chariots in battle after the Gauls had stopped and the chariot scene depicted on the Hostilius Saserna denarius looks very British, as does the chariot itself. The skill of British charioteers was of some concern for Caesar in 54 BC. He says: ‘The cavalry too, found it very dangerous work fighting the charioteers; for the Britons would generally give ground on purpose after drawing them some distance from the legions would jump down from their chariots and fight on foot, with the odds in their favour’ (De Bello Gallico 5:16). This is the first Cunobelin coin of its type we’ve sold since 2000. A rare opportunity to acquire an historically significant coin.
Chris Rudd Auction 178
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