Unique ID: 64
The S-Wave Trophy quarter stater is unique and unpublished, and may be part of the Gallo-Belgic D or British Le2 types. It was part of Eugen Wankmüller’s collection and he described it as similar to the Kentish “British Middle Trophy Type” (VA 146-01). There are similarities on the reverse, but it’s not known if VA 146-01 is Gaulish or British (Van Arsdell thinks British, John Sills thinks Gaulish), so that doesn’t help place it.
The obverse is smooth and blank save for a symbol that seems to be an S vertically merged with a reversed S to make a wave like pattern. There’s a hint of a triangular continuation on the left side, but that appears to be an illusion caused by wear and an inconveniently placed scratch. The “S-Wave” sits on a faint cross that spans the obverse. Assuming it’s a double S motif then it could be related to the GB-E Class 5 “SS” staters from 53/52 BC which feature two S shapes on the reverse, one or two of which can be reversed (like this one for example). Alternatively, it could be one of the “Legend” type GB-D quarters, along with the A (see 62), AR and RR (see 81) types. If British, it could be related to the British Le S-Type quarters (see 55) and SS type staters which may have been minted by the Segontiaci. It lacks the banding seen on the obverses of these coins, but that is so faint to be non-existant on the Floret Trophy type (see 60), so that’s not conclusive.
It weighs 1.25g which is a bit low to be one of the GB-D Legend types (these are in the 1.3-1.32g range), but earlier GB-D coins related to the SS type staters (such as the GB-D “Flower” type (1.25-1.27g) and GB-D “Three Annulets” (1.24-1.34g)) are in a similar range. It’s also too low to be part of the British Le2 “Floret” (see 60), “S Type” (see 55) and “Beaded Trophy” quarters (see 56), although it could be contemporary with the “Double Snake” quarters (see 57) which are in the 1.20-1.29g range. The weight allows it to be a GB-D or a British Le2 so no conclusions can be drawn from this.
The lack of banding on the obvserse suggests it is a Belgic rather than British coin, and related to the GB-E Class 5 “SS” staters. One of the associated quarters, CCI 95.3766, appears to have a similar faint cross on the obverse, and other related coins have strong similarities with the reverse. Until more information comes to light, I’m going to assume this is a Morini GB-D quarter stater from 53-52 BC which was a companion to the GB-E class 5 “SS” staters.
GB-D types in the collection:
