Sale: CNG 66, Lot: 49. Estimate $400.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 19 May 2004.  Sold For $400. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

CELTIC, Britain. Catuvellauni & Trinovantes. Cunobelin. Circa 10-41 AD. AE Unit (3.09 gm). Celtic Warriors Type. Warrior on horse right, CVNOB around / Warrior standing left, holding spear and shield, TASCII[O] [VA]NTIS around, beaded border. Hobbs 1961-67; Van Arsdell 2093; SCBC 338. Good VF, bright glossy green patina, clear figures. ($400)

From the Chris King Collection. Found Hertfordshire, 1995.

The plump belly and breasts sugest that the warrior on horseback might be female, like the riders on several Gallic coins (e.g. De la Tour 6756). She (or he) seems to be riding without any clothes on, raised javelin in right hand, large oval shield with beaded rim in left hand. The reverse is remarkable because it is the only ancient British coin which depicts a fully accoutred foot soldier. D. Allen says: “In a somewhat Roman pose the coin shows a most un-Roman soldier standing with a spear as tall as he is, held upright in his right hand. On his left arm he has a deep, almost hemispherical shield, quite different from the apparently flat round shields of the short-sword fighters.” (Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 24, 1958, pg. 53).