Gold stater of the Trinovantes

Shane Luxford said this gold coin was found by his partner during a club dig held in Essex. Shane said his local FLO had told him that the coin could count as Treasure. Under normal circumstances a single gold coin would not a classed as Treasure so I asked for further details. It turned out that another gold coin had been unearthed at an earlier date very close to this one. When I asked Shane what the first specimen was he said he didn’t know as the land was new to his club. This is a reminder that a find that does not count as Treasure can become Treasure if a related find turns up at a later date.

The coin under discussion is an Ancient British gold stater of the Trinovantes. The find spot in Essex was occupied by this tribal group, which would eventually be dominated by the Caruvellauni

Shane’s find is related to the Early Clacton type , which is listed in Ancient British Coins as number 2329. However, there are varieties of ABC 2329. This specimen has been struck by an obverse die listed as the Inverted Arcs Variety. The hairbar (the line across the wreath) has at the end two inverted arcs forming what at first sight looks like a voided crescent. On the reverse is a horse facing right, with a large pellet below and several above. Additionally, even though it doesn’t show up well, part of a curved exergue line can be seen.

Valuation

The obverse would grade near VF. On the reverse there is some flatness on the high points, it has been struck slightly off centre, the die is rather crude but this side is otherwise in about VF condition. As it is significant rarity a likely pre-sale auction estimate would be £600-800.

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