87 - Duro Boat Dots - The TCx3 Collection

Unique ID: 87

Technical details

DataDescriptionProvenanceReferences

Denomination	Quarter Stater	Metal	Silver
Area	Britain	Region	South Western
Issuing Authority	Durotriges	Issuer	Unknown
Weight	0.80g	Diameter	14.31mm
Rarity	Common (101 to 200)	Date	50 BC to 20 BC (see note about dating)

Obverse Legend	No Legend
Reverse Legend	No Legend
Obverse Description	The obverse shows a boat with two figures. There’s a pellet between the legs of the rightmost figure. A partial S shaped object appears on the right. A pellet triad is on the left level with the boat (although only one pellet survives), and the oars end with pellets. 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	A zig-zag line (sometimes called a thunderbolt) runs vertically with lines running parallel to the vertical sections. The top left is a straight line and the top right is a pelleted line. These reverse sides on the lower half of the thunderbolt. The upper left quadrant contains an irregularly shaped blob, and the upper right contains a “clamshell” motif. The lower right quadrant contains what was the “bird” in the Duro Boat Gold and Duro Boat Bird quarters, and what will become the “Rat” in the Badbury Rat quarters. It’s the remains of the Anenome from the continental GB-Ca2 and GB-D quarters. The lower left quadrant contains a ringed pellet and a crescent that appears to end with a ring.

Bought from David Turner. Ebay Item number

Ex David Turner collection

ABC	ABC 2211. Duro Boat Dots
Van Arsdell	VA 1249-01. Durotrigan G – Second Geometric Type
Spink	S 368. Geometric Type

The Duro Boat Dot quarter staters were minted by the Durotriges around 50-20 BC, and as they are a continuation of the Duro Boat Bird quarter stater series, probably towards the end of this date range. Despite being listed as Common (101-200 coins), this has been one of the harder types to get for my collection.

The transition from the Duro Boat Dots type to the Badbury Rat type (ABC 2214; see 10 and 23) is indistinct, and it is likely that they are different ends of the same type which had decreasing precious metal and weight. The description given in “Ancient British Coins” isn’t detailed enough to definitively categorise all coins of these types. This one would appear to be near the transition point. It weighs 0.8g which is nearer the 0.92g of my other Duro Boat Dots (46) than the 0.65g and 0.51g of my Badbury Rats (10 and 23), but the flan is thinner and wider than the other Duro Boat Dots. In that respect it more closely reflects the Badbury Rat coins. I have decided it’s Duro Boat Dots based on the obverse. It is identical to that on Duro Boat Dots, whilst the obverse of the Badbury Rat coins is at best almost uniface.

This is one of two in the collection (see 46).