Gallo Belgic type E stater

One side of this solid gold coin was deliberately left blank, while the other shows a stylised running horse. This design is typical of Iron Age coins from France and Belgium, where this coin was probably made. Large quantities were minted between 60 and 50 BC, when Julius Caesar was leading the Roman army against the Iron Age tribes of Gaul (modern France). Many are found in Britain, suggesting that British warriors may have fought as mercenaries in Gaul, taking coins like this one home as payment. The style was quickly adopted on later coins in Britain where it became a more abstract pattern of lines and dots.