Celtic - 'Haslemere Hoard Forgery' - Whaddon Chase Stater > Lot No. 085

Description:
C. 1960 AD. Modern copy based on a Whaddon Chase type gold stater (an XRF test indicates a gold content of 54.8%). A good example of a 'Haslemere Hoard' forgery, displaying the characteristic die cutting 'steps' described by Van Arsdell. With the original collector ticket giving the 'provenance'.

Measurements:
6.12 grams.

Condition:
Very fine.

References:
Van Arsdell, 'Celtic Coinage of Britain', Modern Forgeries, Pl 4, no 1487-1F (same dies). Cf. also Van Arsdell 'The Forgery of the "Haslemere Hoard"' (BNTA Special Publications, No 1, 1986). Cf. also D. F. Allen 'The Haslemere Hoard', BNJ 1963 and BNJ 1966.

Provenance:
Sold by Spink, 23rd November 1961 (£12/10/00). The collector ticket states '10 examples' in the hoard. ?Glendining 25th September 1968, lot 5 (£85). At this Glendining sale (where the owner of this coin also purchased lots 1, 2, 4, 104 and 153), lot 5 is described as a 'Catuvellauni, Whaddon Chase Stater'. It is thus probable that this is the coin so catalogued.

Comments notes:
In the early 1960s, a group of staters appeared on the London coin market. They were said to have been from a hoard, found in 1944 in the area between Guildford and Haslemere, Surrey and not to have been then reported. Peculiarities led to speculation by D. F. Allen and others at the time but the coins were not finally condemned by Van Arsdell until the 1980s. An interesting episode in the art of forgery aimed at collectors and a useful reference piece.

Export licence:
No

Estimate: £80 - 120 (EUR 100 - 140; USD 130 - 190)

Auction date: Friday 19th March 2010 at The Swedenborg Hall 20-21 Bloomsbury Way
London WC1A 2TH

Sold for: £170