About Celtic Potin Coins, cast high-tin bronze coins of Iron Age Britain featuring abstract horned beasts and solar wheels minted before the Roman invasion.
Before the Roman conquest, communities in south-eastern Britain, including the Cantii and Trinovantes, produced their own cast bronze coinage: potin coins, including types known as Thurrock and Kentish pegged potins.
Minted around 150 BCE to 50 BCE, Celtic potins were fundamentally different from Greek or Roman coins: they were not struck with steel dies on cold metal planchets; they were cast liquid in clay strip molds.
The Potin Alloy: High-Tin Bronze
Potin was a copper alloy whose composition could include tin, lead, and small amounts of other metals. A tin-rich surface could give some cast coins a pale, silvery appearance.
Abstract Mythology and Horned Beasts
The imagery on Celtic potin coins shows influence from Greek coins associated with Massalia (Marseille), alongside local stylisation:
- Obverse: A highly stylised head reduced to geometric lines and curves.
- Reverse: A horned animal or mythical beast rendered in curving strokes.
Clay Strip Casting Technique
Some Celtic potins were cast in linked moulds. Molten metal filled the connected cavities; once cooled, the coins could be separated from the runner, sometimes leaving raised casting marks at their edges.
Celtic potin coins are an important example of Iron Age metallurgy and local commerce in Britain before the Roman conquest.