Unique ID: 105
Most “Phallic Geometric” quarters were struck from a worn Insular Cf2 obverse die (this coin for example) which, when viewed from a certain angle with a certain imagination, looks phallic. This coin comes from a previously unknown obverse die. While the imagery on it has had many descriptions over the years – two men in a boat, a wolf, a wolf suckling twins, a boar, an indeterminate animal, a horse’s head with the rising sun behind it, a bad copy of Apollo’s head, and (I kid you not) a “rayed dolphin on stilts” – no one seems to have claimed it to be a gentleman’s sausage, validating the decision to rename it in “Divided Kingdoms” to British Ad2 “Geometric”.
The “two men in a boat” motif is used over a wide range of quarter staters, but the defining features on this rendition are the rays to the right of the boat, and the “spiky thorn” object at the stern of the boat (the right hand side of the coin). Similar devices appear on obverse 1 of Insular Cf2 (see 41), which is the predecessor of this coin, and the “spiky thorn” object is prominent on the associated British Ad1 “Tarring” stater (see 104).
The die chain for these coins published in “Divided Kingdoms” doesn’t allow for this obverse die because the reverse appears near the start of the chain. However, they are complex to sequence because the obverse die is so worn, so they were likely sequenced by weight where there was doubt in the ordering. I have undertaken my own die study and I have been able to place this obverse at the end by paying extra attention to the obverse of the coins.
The reverse design derives from Insular Cf2 (see 29 and 41), but is much more angular and has more in common with the Duro Boat Gold quarter staters (see 7, 8, 12, 16, 42, 51, and 112) which, based on average weight and alloy composition, were contemporary or perhaps slightly earlier. It dates to the 70-55 BC band, but will probably be towards the middle or end of that range.
This is one of four in the collection (see 49, 106, and 108).
