61 - Ingoldisthorpe

Copyright tcx3.co.uk

Unique ID: 61

Technical details
DataDescriptionProvenanceReferences

Denomination

Quarter Stater

Metal

Gold

Area

Britain

Region

North Thames

Issuing Authority

Catuvellauni

Issuer

Unknown

Weight

1.28g

Diameter

10.69mm

Rarity

Extremely Rare (6 to 15)

Date

55 BC to 54 BC (see note about dating)

Obverse Legend

No Legend

Reverse Legend

No Legend

Obverse Description

The obverse shows a boat with three figures (not the normal two). Between the rightmost figures is a ringed pellet with a vertical line extending from it. The rightmost figure has small curved lines ending in pellets coming from the head and chest area, although the top one is missing on this coin. The leftmost figure has an elongated pellet behind it.

Some scroll work is present below the boat.

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 dominated by a comb like object with rays emanating from the top and right hand side. This is a variation of the anemone seen on GB-Ca2 quarters, the Tree seen on GB-D quarters, the Tophy seen on British P and British Le2 quarters, and the Bird seen on the Durotridges quarters. To the left is a tadpole shaped object with an L shape made from pellets. To the right is a wavy line.

At the base of the comb is a think crooked line, and below that some scoll work and what looks like the tip of some pincers. Other coins show this to be an angled Y shape object touching a vertical line, as seen on GB-Ca2, GB-D, Insular Cf, etc, quarters.

Bt. Spink Auction 19004 Lot 920 2019

Ex. Spink ‘Celtic Coins from the Geoff Cottam Collection’ (Auction 15049 Lot 285) 2015

Ex. Geoff Cottam Collection

Ex. DNW, 28 September 2005, lot 130

PAS CAM-0C6F51

CCI 03.0685

Found near Welney and Christchurch, Cambridgeshire, October 2004

ABC

ABC 2448. Ingoldisthorpe

Divided Kingdoms

DK 399. British Ac2 Class 2 – Ingoldisthorpe

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:

  1. British Ab2 Class 1 which is formed from both ABC 2451 (see 35) and 2454 (see 6 and 22)
  2. British Ac2 Class 2 “Ingoldisthorpe”. Note Ac rather than Ab
  3. 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.