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Potin Unit Thurrock Degraded Head Variety
| Issuer | Uncertain tribe Brittonic (Celtic Britain) |
|---|---|
| Year | 100 BC - 90 BC |
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| Composition | Potin |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse description | A bull depicted in profile, rendered in a highly schematic and abstracted Celtic style, occupying the central field of the flan. The animal's body is reduced to bold, simplified masses with a prominent raised boss suggesting the hump or body, and a ground line visible beneath. The design, derived from Massaliote coinage of Apollo and bull type, has been progressively abstracted through repeated casting generations. The field is otherwise plain and uninscribed, with no legend or border ornament. |
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| Edge | Log in to see details |
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| Mintage | ND (100 BC - 90 BC) - Bull left. - ND (100 BC - 90 BC) - Bull right. - |
| Additional information |
Potin coinage in Britain was not locally invented — it arrived as a technology transfer from Gaulish tribes, most likely via the Thames estuary trading networks that connected southeastern Britain to the continent in the late Iron Age. The Thurrock type is among the earliest British potins, and the "degraded head" designation refers specifically to progressive die copying: each generation of dies was cut from a casting of the previous coin rather than from a master, compressing and distorting the design incrementally. Van Arsdell's numbering range of 1426–38 reflects that degradation sequence rather than distinct subtypes.