Coin, ancient British, gold, found by metal-detectorist in Lyes Field, Cheriton, Hampshire, Atrebatic uninscribed.

Gold coin of Atrebatic Abstract type

Late pre-Roman Iron Age, 55-45BC

Found by metal-detectorist at Cheriton, Hampshire

The first Iron Age, or Celtic, coins were imitations of the stater of Philip II of Macedon, brought back from the Mediterranean by Celtic mercenaries. The designs on the Macedonian stater - the laurel-wreathed classical head of Apollo on one side and the chariot drawn by two horses on the other - become increasingly abstract under the influence of the Celtic art-style. The abstracted head of Apollo on the obverse and the disjointed Celticized horse on the reverse can be seen on this coin. The Atrebates occupied territory that is today Berkshire, Sussex and parts of Hampshire.