Bronze core of an Ancient British stater

Ian Sharman said he found this coin is sandy soil a couple of months since. I was asked to provide an ID and give Ian some idea of its value.

Firstly, this is the bronze core of an Ancient British stater, which originally would have been covered in a thin layer of gold to make it look lake the genuine article. It imitates a stater of the Corieltauvi, a tribe based in Lincolnshire and adjoining counties. Bronze cores of Corieltauvi coins turn up far more frequently than those of any other tribe.

If the obverse had been struck with a coinage die it has left no detail whatsoever on this core. On the reverse there is a left-facing horse, which is surrounded by letters. The type is listed in Ancient British Coins as being struck for Volisios Dumnovellaunos, who might have been a son of Volisios – ruler of the Corieltauvi circa 35-40 AD. In the Standard Catalogue the reference is 419.

Valuation

The reverse is in Fine condition and the die is of excellent quality. If it had a good obverse and was fully gilded then it could pass as an official stater. However, even with full gilding it would be at least one gram below the standard weight for a gold stater.      Bronze cores of Corieltauvi staters are still of interest to collectors, albeit at greatly reduced prices. This one is an extremely rare type so it shouldn’t be worth any less than £150 to a collector of Ancient British coins.

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