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Droxford Two Boars. Belgae. c.50-30 BC. Celtic silver unit. 12mm. 1.10g.
1/2
Auctioneer has chosen not to publish the price of this lot
Norwich, Norfolk
Description
Droxford Two Boars. c.50-30 BC. Silver unit. 12mm. 1.10g. Two back-to-back boars with upturned snouts, large round eyes and exaggerated ladder-like dorsal bristles; ringed-pellets and pellets between them; big beaded solar motif between their legs; long triple-stranded ‘pony-tail’ hair-curl to left; snake-like serpentine line to right; ringed-pellets around./ Long-legged, somewhat globular horse left; with big round eye, ‘ring-pull’ muzzle, long ears, ladder-like linear mane, right-angle forelegs and high arched tail; spiral sun and large pellet above; ringed-pellet-in-beaded-ring below; ringed-pellet in front. ABC–, VA–, BMC–, S–. PAS: HAMP-0F13B1 (this coin). New type, hitherto unpublished as such. EF, mint-state silvery silver, both boars and horse boldly struck. An exceptional example of a significant British coin of Belgic ancestry. Found by Michael Armstrong near Droxford, Hants., 15 January 2023. EXCESSIVELY RARE only one other recorded (CCI 10.2830) “but it’s very poor, either badly struck or has been bashed with a hammer” (J.Sills, pers.comm. 24.8.2023).
The core imagery of this immaculate mint-state coin from the Meon Valley in Hampshire – a pair of ‘night-boars’ back to back with a sun-mare on the reverse – is undoubtedly derived from Belgic bronze units of the Gallic War period (58-51 BC), specifically LT 8518, 8519, DT 464, 465 (see CR auction 187, lot 2). Indeed the dies could well have been cut by an émigré Belgic engraver, as could the Berkshire Boars silver unit (CR auction 188, lot 9). However, the similarities end there. This Droxford Two Boars unit is categorically a British coin, struck in southern Britain for a rich chieftain of the Hampshire Belgae, as confirmed by Dr Daphne Nash Briggs, author of Coinage in the Celtic World (1987), who has spent decades studying Celtic coins, both insular and imported, found at the Hayling Island temple site, Hampshire (pers.comm. 9.8.2023). The tell-tale signs of British minting are plain to see: the big round eyes of the boars and horse, the ‘pony-tail’ hair-curl and wiggly snake on the obverse, the ‘ladder’ mane of the horse, the multi-rayed solar spiral, and of the course the fact that the Droxford back-to-back boars are silver boars (not bronze like their continental cousins). Ladder-mane horses are rarely seen on coins of the Hampshire Belgae. However, notable exceptions include the Ladder Mane gold stater (ABC 764) and Danebury Sunrays silver unit (ABC 866), both of which have a spiral sun with the horse. Spiral suns also occur on ABC 791, 842, 851 854, 872, 887, 893, 902, 992 and 995 – all well established issues of the Hampshire Belgae. Droxford Two Boars is a great British rarity in spectacular condition. This is the first offered for public sale. Absent from all major catalogues.
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Droxford Two Boars. c.50-30 BC. Silver unit. 12mm. 1.10g. Two back-to-back boars with upturned snouts, large round eyes and exaggerated ladder-like dorsal bristles; ringed-pellets and pellets between them; big beaded solar motif between their legs; long triple-stranded ‘pony-tail’ hair-curl to left; snake-like serpentine line to right; ringed-pellets around./ Long-legged, somewhat globular horse left; with big round eye, ‘ring-pull’ muzzle, long ears, ladder-like linear mane, right-angle forelegs and high arched tail; spiral sun and large pellet above; ringed-pellet-in-beaded-ring below; ringed-pellet in front. ABC–, VA–, BMC–, S–. PAS: HAMP-0F13B1 (this coin). New type, hitherto unpublished as such. EF, mint-state silvery silver, both boars and horse boldly struck. An exceptional example of a significant British coin of Belgic ancestry. Found by Michael Armstrong near Droxford, Hants., 15 January 2023. EXCESSIVELY RARE only one other recorded (CCI 10.2830) “but it’s very poor, either badly struck or has been bashed with a hammer” (J.Sills, pers.comm. 24.8.2023).
The core imagery of this immaculate mint-state coin from the Meon Valley in Hampshire – a pair of ‘night-boars’ back to back with a sun-mare on the reverse – is undoubtedly derived from Belgic bronze units of the Gallic War period (58-51 BC), specifically LT 8518, 8519, DT 464, 465 (see CR auction 187, lot 2). Indeed the dies could well have been cut by an émigré Belgic engraver, as could the Berkshire Boars silver unit (CR auction 188, lot 9). However, the similarities end there. This Droxford Two Boars unit is categorically a British coin, struck in southern Britain for a rich chieftain of the Hampshire Belgae, as confirmed by Dr Daphne Nash Briggs, author of Coinage in the Celtic World (1987), who has spent decades studying Celtic coins, both insular and imported, found at the Hayling Island temple site, Hampshire (pers.comm. 9.8.2023). The tell-tale signs of British minting are plain to see: the big round eyes of the boars and horse, the ‘pony-tail’ hair-curl and wiggly snake on the obverse, the ‘ladder’ mane of the horse, the multi-rayed solar spiral, and of the course the fact that the Droxford back-to-back boars are silver boars (not bronze like their continental cousins). Ladder-mane horses are rarely seen on coins of the Hampshire Belgae. However, notable exceptions include the Ladder Mane gold stater (ABC 764) and Danebury Sunrays silver unit (ABC 866), both of which have a spiral sun with the horse. Spiral suns also occur on ABC 791, 842, 851 854, 872, 887, 893, 902, 992 and 995 – all well established issues of the Hampshire Belgae. Droxford Two Boars is a great British rarity in spectacular condition. This is the first offered for public sale. Absent from all major catalogues.
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