Superb Sea-Creature

It’s not unusual for curious creatures to turn up on ancient Celtic coins: bears, bulls, lions, goats, dragons, serpents, and wolves, to name but a few. Most of the images are inspired by designs the engravers would probably have seen on coins, signet gemstones, vases, or vessels from Rome, Gaul, or Greece, possibly during trade or battles. This superb coin of Amminus struck c.AD 30-40 by the Cantiaci tribe of Kent depicts a hippocamp, a creature that has the front end of a horse and the back end of a fish or sea creature. The Cantiaci were a sea-faring tribe and often placed images of fishing nets on their coins.

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The dies for this beautiful silver unit were cut by one of Amminus’ most accomplished engravers. Its accurate modeling conveys perspective, with four diaphanous fins along a mighty hippocamp’s slippery, muscular tail. This was a Classical denizen of deep seas and dangerous waters: Amminus would like us to understand that he, too, ruled the waves. His coins inform us that his father, who had ruled in Kent c.AD 5-15, was Sego- son of Tasciovanos, but here, this engraver has cleverly made the large initial S, high above the hippocamp, double as an abstract symbol for the rotating skies and celestial double-headed serpent that so often appears as a power of the night on British coin designs.

Celtic coin specialist Elizabeth Cottam observes: “This magnificent example also boasts another interesting feature: the mane on the hippocamp is beaded, rather than the usual short dashes; no other examples are known from this die.” It will be sold in Norwich by Chris Rudd on 17 March 2024 and has an estimate of £1250.