Unique ID: 61
The Ingoldisthorpe quarter stands in the middle of a complicated sequence that derives from the British Aa2 Class 2 “Carn Brea” quarter (see 34 and 39). The sequence is:
- British Ab2 Class 1 which is formed from both ABC 2451 (see 35) and 2454 (see 6 and 22)
- British Ac2 Class 2 “Ingoldisthorpe”. Note Ac rather than Ab
- British Ab2 Class 3 (see 80). Note Ab again rather than Ac.
This intermingling of Ab and Ac occurs because of a class 3 coin which was struck from a class 1 (Ab) reverse die and from a class 2 (Ac) obverse die. This merging of dies is also seen in the corresponding staters.
In terms of dating, “ABC” assigns it to the 80-50 BC range, and John Sills assigns it to around 55 BC to 54 BC in “Divided Kingdoms” (p713). John Sills’ theory is that the whole Ab/Ac series was minted for the second invasion of Britain in 54 BC. His reasoning is that the Ac staters copy features from GB-E class 4L staters (minted around 54 to 53 BC) and GB-D class 5 quarters (minted around 55 to 54 BC) so must be contemporary with, or postdate, that. He also argues that the coins in circulation north of the Thames (British Ab-c, F and G) were replaced by the British L coins, and he dates them to 53 BC and the immediate aftermath of the second invasion.
