Beautiful Celtic Gold Stater Addition

[Kazuma78]

Here is a new pickup I was very excited to add this week. I've been wanting a well detailed celtic gold stater for awhile and was able to secure this one. 

CELTIC, Trinovantes & Catuvellauni. Addedomaros. Circa 40-30 BC. AV Stater (18mm, 5.43 g). Spiral type (Trinovantian J). Six-armed spiral of wreaths / Horse right; pellets-in-annulets around, 'cornucopia' below. Van Arsdell 1620-1; ABC 2517; SCBC 201. NGC AU Star, Strike 5/5, Surface 5/5.
Ex. Chris Rudd List 69, Lot 55 (Sold in 2003)
Found in Kings Langley, UK September 17, 2002

[Edessa]

Outstanding example!

[Kazuma78]

Just now, Edessa said:

Outstanding example!

Thank you! 

[Hrefn]

Beautiful coin!

For anyone who may be interested, Van Arsdell’s book on Celtic coins is freely available on the internet.  

https://vanarsdellcelticcoinageofbritain.com/

[panzerman]

Very nice coin😀  Celtic coinage is very diverse/ their coinage spreads all thru Europe right down to the Black Sea region of Kolchis.

John

[Kazuma78]

10 minutes ago, panzerman said:

Very nice coin😀  Celtic coinage is very diverse/ their coinage spreads all thru Europe right down to the Black Sea region of Kolchis.

John

Thanks! I figured you would like that one John! I like the abstract designs of the celtic coinage and I have a soft spot for them, though they seem to get much less attention than Greek and Roman. 

[NewStyleKing]

I love them too the abstract are so modern  Ans that is why they get little real attention.................there is nothing to say about them. If it wasn't for where they are found  they would not have any "home"  , but who knows  how accurate that really is.  The truth is very little can be said about them. Look at the descriptions  of a lot of them, only descriptive in the sense of purely classifying them and not the actualite. No one will know what they mean or signify  ever!  The Celtic world is lost

[Kazuma78]

3 hours ago, NewStyleKing said:

I love them too the abstract are so modern  Ans that is why they get little real attention.................there is nothing to say about them. If it wasn't for where they are found  they would not have any "home"  , but who knows  how accurate that really is.  The truth is very little can be said about them. Look at the descriptions  of a lot of them, only descriptive in the sense of purely classifying them and not the actualite. No one will know what they mean or signify  ever!  The Celtic world is lost

I don't believe that is necessarily true. There is a decent amount of history and backstory in Van Arsdell's book and also in Chris Rudd's book. I think there is a decent amount known about pieces like the Ambiani staters and the like also. 

[NewStyleKing]

Six armed spiral of wreaths?  Looks like a meeting of tapeworms!  What can it mean?  A horse and cornucopia? reverse. I'll go for the horse as a majestic animal, but the rest?  They are seen as Trins and Cats probably because that they are found in their territories, but being stylised and anepigraphic there is nothing definite...c 50 BC? or what you will?  Why not!

Still I love it!

 

[Al Kowsky]

13 hours ago, Kazuma78 said:

Here is a new pickup I was very excited to add this week. I've been wanting a well detailed celtic gold stater for awhile and was able to secure this one. 

CELTIC, Trinovantes & Catuvellauni. Addedomaros. Circa 40-30 BC. AV Stater (18mm, 5.43 g). Spiral type (Trinovantian J). Six-armed spiral of wreaths / Horse right; pellets-in-annulets around, 'cornucopia' below. Van Arsdell 1620-1; ABC 2517; SCBC 201. NGC AU Star, Strike 5/5, Surface 5/5.
Ex. Chris Rudd List 69, Lot 55 (Sold in 2003)
Found in Kings Langley, UK September 17, 2002

Great score Josh ☺️! That coin definitely deserves the NGC *. Excellent provenance & knowing the find spot gives it historical importance 😉.

[John Conduitt]

14 hours ago, Kazuma78 said:

Here is a new pickup I was very excited to add this week. I've been wanting a well detailed celtic gold stater for awhile and was able to secure this one. 

CELTIC, Trinovantes & Catuvellauni. Addedomaros. Circa 40-30 BC. AV Stater (18mm, 5.43 g). Spiral type (Trinovantian J). Six-armed spiral of wreaths / Horse right; pellets-in-annulets around, 'cornucopia' below. Van Arsdell 1620-1; ABC 2517; SCBC 201. NGC AU Star, Strike 5/5, Surface 5/5.
Ex. Chris Rudd List 69, Lot 55 (Sold in 2003)
Found in Kings Langley, UK September 17, 2002

Beautiful coin. You can't get much better than that.

[Kazuma78]

1 hour ago, Al Kowsky said:

Great score Josh ☺️! That coin definitely deserves the NGC *. Excellent provenance & knowing the find spot gives it historical importance 😉.

Thanks Al! I am very happy to add this one. I figured you would approve, as you have a great eye for good coins too! 

[John Conduitt]

5 hours ago, NewStyleKing said:

I love them too the abstract are so modern  Ans that is why they get little real attention.................there is nothing to say about them. If it wasn't for where they are found  they would not have any "home"  , but who knows  how accurate that really is.  The truth is very little can be said about them. Look at the descriptions  of a lot of them, only descriptive in the sense of purely classifying them and not the actualite. No one will know what they mean or signify  ever!  The Celtic world is lost

As far as British Celtic coins go, it depends. The ubiquitous horse designs are very clearly copied from Continental issues, which are very clearly copied from Philip II gold staters. A lot of the wreath designs come from Apollo's hairstyle. The roundels around the horses were once chariot wheels. There's not much attempt to stick to the original form so they get very creative.

It's true that early British Celtic coins are not inscribed. They're mostly gold and were probably not used for local trade, only for international trade and votive purposes. So these are somewhat mysterious, but where they came from is clear. They're mostly found in very specific localities in Britain, since they were not traded with the neighbouring tribes.

Later on, the Romans have more influence and the designs start to vary. Silver and bronze becomes more prominent as people start to use them in their daily lives. But we know where they came from, since the kings now put their names on them, albeit not in full, which causes all sorts of problems with attributing them to rulers only known by coin inscriptions. But they feature symbols of wealth and power derived from associating with the Romans, such as wine cups, vine leaves and eagles.
 

1 hour ago, Kazuma78 said:

I don't believe that is necessarily true. There is a decent amount of history and backstory in Van Arsdell's book and also in Chris Rudd's book. I think there is a decent amount known about pieces like the Ambiani staters and the like also. 

This is true, although quite a lot of what Van Arsdell and Chris Rudd say is speculation based on limited evidence - mostly coin inscriptions and find spots. They often do not agree. The problem with Celtic coins is that they are not often found in sites with helpful context. Even so, Van Arsdell and Rudd have done a lot to bring to life the rulers we think we know about.

I think there are a lot of reasons Celtic coins aren't collected as much:

• There is no record of most of the rulers, other than the incomplete coin inscriptions. So you have no clear collecting goal like 'the 12 Caesars'. You don't even know if ECEN, ECE and EDN are the same ruler - do you need one coin or three? This is a problem for early Saxon coins too.
• The coins were not often hoarded, and if they were, it was the gold. This means if you want to collect Celtic coins, you either collect beautiful gold staters at $1000+ a coin, or you collect silver and bronze coins that are rarely in great condition because they spent 2000 years buried on their own in the ground without the protection of 1000 other coins. Saxon coins have this problem, except there is almost no gold to collect either.
• There are a lot of wreath / horse designs. They can look very similar, which doesn't help when the tribe and ruler names are so unfamiliar. It's confusing. There are other interesting designs, but they are hard to categorise e.g. the Durotriges starfish. Do I need a starfish and a Cranbourne Chase stater? What collecting goal is that meeting?
• Many of the coins are small. 13mm is common. I have one that is 7mm and almost as deep. So some of the most attractive designs are very intricate but less easy to display.

Obviously, this also makes them much more interesting. There's a lot to learn and discover. They don't all have busts facing left or right. Celtic coin collecting as at the forefront of historical research.