Belgae, Berkshire & Vectuarii

Coin types attributed to the Belgae are extremely varied and, with one notable exception, uninscribed.

Developing onwards from two main stater types (Chute & Cheriton) are an extensive range of quarter-staters. Most common among these are two key issues – the ‘Hampshire Thunderbolt’ (ABC 767/BMC 129–36) and the stylistically more developed ‘Petersfield Wreath’ (ABC 773/BMC 568–70). A further 23 types of quarter-stater are listed by ABC, which show considerable variation in style. Many are obscenely rare, so much so that neither the cabinets of the British Museum nor those of major 20th century British collectors possessed examples. The horse is ubiquitous on the reverses of all these types, while obverses tend towards geometric designs – specifically those of cruciform appearance. Wheels, solar motifs, pellets-in-rings, stylised animals and wreaths abound here, truly reflecting the apogee of ‘Celtic’ art! Selected highlights include the ‘Huxtables Eagles’ (ABC 782/BMC 542–3 and ‘Danebury Scrolls’ types (ABC 791/BMC 539). It is worth noting that the ABC names for many types of the Belgae reference Danebury, the important Hampshire hillfort excavated by Barry Cunliffe in the later 20th century.

Silver units struck in the territory of the Belgae are even more variable than the quarter-staters. Several different stylistic ‘strands’ seem to be visible here. Some employ profile busts of a lunate appearance, which is sometimes combined with multiple crescents to represent the hair (e.g. ABC 836, 839, 923, 926) – a feature which connects them, as with Dobunnic issues, to prototypes deriving from Armorican coinage. By contrast, there are also coins with distinct, helmeted busts. These, like the East Anglian ‘Bury Diadem’, strongly evoke the bust of Roma on Roman Republican denarii. These types include the ‘Hampshire Helmet’, ‘Mossop Helmet’ and, to a lesser extent, the ‘Danebury Sunrays’ (ABC 851, 854, 866/BMC 609, 595–601). Another type whose obverse may take influence from denarii is the sole inscribed issue attributed to the Belgae – the so-called ‘Ex Head’ (ABC 995/BMC 614–28). Other types of silver unit still are entirely zoomorphic and depict only animals. Some of these are entirely conventional, such as the various ‘Danebury Boar’ variants (ABC 872, 875, 878/BMC 637), while others depict beasts of a more fantastical appearance. For example the ‘Danebury Dragon’, which displays a recurved, clawed animal on its obverse (ABC 896/BMC 631–33).

While no bronze coinage appears to be attributable to the Belgae, the group did produce fractional half-units and minims. These comprise a highly diverse suite of types characterised by their extreme rarity.

‘Vectuarii’

The Isle of Wight, known as Vectis to the Romans, was inhabited by a tribe whose original name has not come down to us.

In the Iron Age, Wight occupied an important, strategically significant zone straddling the spheres of influence exercised by two important, coin-issuing tribes of the mainland– the Durotriges and the Belgae. Such an advantageous location facilitated trade to the north, east and west, at least some of which may have come by way of Armorica. In consideration of this, it is perhaps unsurprising that coins struck by both the Belgae and Durotriges are prolific on the island, both as single finds and in hoards.

While these coins make up most of the Iron Age issues found on the island, it is nevertheless important to note that the inhabitants of Vectis also got onboard with the process of making money – albeit to a much lesser degree than their commercial partners across the Solent. Only two coin types have thus far been identified as definite products of the ‘Vectuarii’, both of which are inscribed issues attributed to the period AD 10–40. These coins bear the name ‘CRAB’, comprising a silver unit (ABC 1385/BMC 2788) and a silver minim (ABC 1388/BMC 2789). Artistic influences derived from the Mediterranean sphere can be seen on both these types. The reverse of the unit depicts a suspiciously Roman-looking eagle, while on the obverse of the minim, the name ‘CRAB’ appears in a rectangular tablet.