Sale: CNG 66, Lot: 52. Estimate $400.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 19 May 2004.  Sold For $400. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

CELTIC, Britain. Catuvellauni & Trinovantes. Epaticcus. Circa 35-43 AD. AR Minim (0.30 gm). Dog Type. Roman-style bust right, ringed-pellet in front, beaded border / Dog right, foreleg raised, E below, beaded border. Hobbs 2358-63; Van Arsdell -; SCBC 362. EF, bright silver, clear bust and dog. Extremely rare, one of the finest known specimens. ($400)

Probably from the Wanborough hoard, Surrey, 1984.

In late Iron Age Britain "dogs were general purpose animals used for hunting, herding and probably as pets… At Highfield about twenty dogs were found, of which five were of foxhound type, one like a retriever and one rather smaller than a fox terrier". (B. Cunliffe, Iron Age Communities in Britain, pg. 382). When the Greek geographer Strabo listed the principal exports from Britain, he included "dogs that are by nature suited to the purposes of the chase" (Geog. 4.5.2). This exquisitely engraved minim undoubtedly depicts a hunting dog, perhaps reminiscent of a boar hunt or deer hunt that Epaticcus once enjoyed in the New Forest, Hampshire.