Stater coin with Apollo's wreath, horse on reverse
Medium:Struck gold
Geography: Northeast Midlands of England, possibly struck at Sleaford, Lincolnshire
Date: c. 45-10 B.C
Period: Corieltauvi (formerly Coritani), British Iron Age
Dimensions:18.2 mm diameter, 85.5 gr, 5.54 gm
Object number: 948X171.73
Gallery Location:Eaton Gallery of Rome: Britain and Ireland to the time of the Romans
DescriptionThe gold stater of the Macedonian empire, first under Phillip II and then under Alexander the Great and his successors, depicted the luarel-crowned head of Apollo on the front (obverse) and Apollo on his chariot on the reverse. These coins were copied in Gaul, which were in turn copied by the tribes of Britain. This highly abstract version, with the head of Apollo only recognisable by his wreath, and the two horses of his chariot on the reverse, is thought to have been made by the Corieltauvi tribe (formerly known as the Coritani). This particular variety is known as the South Ferriby Type or Corieltauvian D. The Corieltauvi occupied the northeast of the English midlands, centred around Lincolnshire and Leicestershire. Their principle settlement by the time of the Roman conquest in AD 44 was named Ratae Corieltauvi ("ratae" being a Latinised version of the Brittonic for "ramparts"), modern Leicester, but it is known that they had a mint at Sleaford in Lincolnshire.
