26 - Morini Boat Tree - The TCx3 Collection

Unique ID: 26

Technical details

DataDescriptionProvenanceReferences

Denomination	Quarter Stater	Metal	Gold
Area	Belgic Gaul	Region	Pas-de-Calais
Issuing Authority	Morini	Issuer	Unknown
Weight	1.18g	Diameter	8mm
Rarity	Common (101 to 200)	Date	57 BC to 56 BC (see note about dating)

Obverse Legend	No Legend
Reverse Legend	No Legend
Obverse Description	The obverse shows a boat with two figures, with a pellet to their left and a line of stars below and to the left. These stars extend all the way around the die, but the flans are smaller than the dies, so a part of this line of stars is always missing. The obverse is sometimes rotated 180 degrees and described as a stylised animal (normally a boar but sometimes a wolf), but the arguments for this are unconvincing and the text required to describe the design as a boar or other abstract animal becomes increasingly convoluted. A possible interpretation of the boat and its passengers was presented by Daphne Nash Briggs in "Reading the images on lron-Age coins: I. the sun-boat and its passengers".
Reverse Description	The reverse is split into halves by a crooked line running horizontally. Above is a tree shaped object with bars coming in from the sides. A crescent and a Y shaped symbol are below.

Bt. Silbury Coins (2018). Item Number EC860

ABC	ABC 40. Boat Tree
Divided Kingdoms	DK 26. GB-D – Two Symbols
Van Arsdell	VA 69-01. GB-DC – Geometric Type
Spink	S 10. Geometric
DT	DT 249. l’arbre et à la ligne brisée
Scheers	Scheers Series 13. Les quarts “au bateau”

This coin is Gallo Belgic D (GB-D) class 2 “Two Symbols”, but is more commonly known as a Morini Boat Tree.

The Morini Boat Tree is probably the most commonly available quarter stater. Minted in Belgic Gaul to finance resistance to Caesar during the Gallic Wars, they are found all over that area and the coin using areas of Britain. It’s the companion quarter to the GB-E stater (see 65, 66, and 78), which means it should technically be called GB-E2, but the designation GB-D has been in use for too long to realistically change. GB-D was derived from the GB-Ca2 quarter staters (see 45, 48, and 52), and was the inspiration for numerous British copies, meaning it is frequently missidentified.

GB-D types in the collection:

Branch Type (38 and 63)
Two Symbols (26 and 31)
Two Arcs Uniface (79)
Ornate Lines (54)
Two Rosettes (70 and 93)
Linked Rings (86)
Ringed Pellet Globular (47)
S-Wave Trophy (64)
Legend A (62)
Legend RR (81)