RE::"CORN EAR " VARIETIES

[ADEN c]

 Im new to the Celtic coin area  and  ive been very attracted to the  cunobelin style  coins that feature  a horse on one side and a so called " corn ear" on the other usually with the cunobelin inscription  CA  MV  on either side of the  "corn ear"......To me its obvious that this is a head of wheat or similar grain and not what i would call corn. The ancient Celts grew prosperous thru their farming of grains and as far as i know Corn wasnt discovered until the North american First Nations were found to be cultivating it. So it begs the question  why not just call it a head of grain? Maybe its one of those  conundrums of nomenclature that has just stuck and thats all there is to it. Surely it cant be a representation of an  ear of corn?  im guessing that the word corn means grain in old english or something like that but then ive just answered my own question....so heres a further tantalizing question..what is the estimated mintage of the "corn ear " varieties thus far discovered? they must surely be considered rare.

[PeterD]

This is a subject which comes up frequently from Americans.

Corn is an old English word for any type of cereal crop. It was mentioned in one of the provisions of Magna Carta in 1215 and there are 'corn exchanges' in many English cities (though no longer used as such). What we in the UK call maize and Americans call 'corn', is in fact a shortened version of 'Indian corn'.

Grain would be an alternative word but technically they only include grasses. Although wheat is a grass other cereals are not.

[ADEN c]

Thanks for that clear reply to the definition of "corn"  The second part of the post concerned mintage figures for the corn ear types and im going to be specific here ..Im talking about the gold stater of the Cunobelin type with the horse. The numbers of discovered examples must be estimated somewhere and im going to try to get a figure from the books ive gotten and any other research materials i can find. I happen to own one of these and they are absolutely magnificent examples of creative design far superior to most of the gold coins of the modern era except for perhaps the sovereign. But holding a 2 thousand year old coin in your hand with a clear design is a rather pleasant experience of itself. Chris Rudd has said these uk gold staters are undervalued  because of the really low numbers in existance so im curious to know how rare these beauties are. A comparison might be useful as follows::  1877 indian head usa cent..mintage original 852,000 sells for 2500.00 in EF  this is considered the key date of the series. it is estimated that only 200,000 survived into the modern era. ......compare this with the above CAMV stater which can be bought for 1500.00 and which i would only guess there arent more than 10,000 of these available....im wondering if any of the experts out there can help me with this one but i guess ultimately its about demand.

[stairman]

I'm no expert, but do have some reference for this.

Mintage figures would be completely speculative.

It is certain these coins were minted by Cunobelinus king of the Catuvellauni, and son of Tasciovanos. He captured Camulodunon and made it his royal Capitol about AD 8. It is thought he minted a large quantity of coins here.

CA-MU was inscribed on these staters to glorify his war-god Camulos, as well as his royal city.

Rarity can only be put forth by what coins are known to be found at this time. The staters range from scarce 51-100 known, to excessively rare 2-5 known.

Sean

[djmacdo]

Rarity probably has less to do with ancient coin prices than with modern.  Preservation, beauty, historical significance are all more important factors.  There are many small, ugly ancient bronzes in series that are not extensively collected that are extremely rare--two, three or so so pieces known--but that still are bought and sold for very modest prices.  British and gold make your piece desirable, but Celtic is still a relatively specialized area without the crowds of collectors, for example, who want a Julius Caesar portrait denarius, so the price is relatively low in contrast to the number of known specimens.  I remember finding the third known specimen of a fairly ugly small bronze, which I found totally unsalable.  The reason was that there were only two collectors active in the area, and each had one of the other two known specimens.

Mac

[ADEN c]

Ive done more research into the Cunobelinus Corn Ear varieties and according to the Celtic Coin Index there are approx 18 different types of the Corn Ear Gold Stater. In these approx 18 types there are a total of 335 coins which have been registered.........None of the types has over 50 coins registered and many only have a few to 10 pieces per type...Here are 2 images of this variety of the Cunobelinus corn ear stater in gold

the first image is from a variety I own.known as the Wild Type B..the second is another type

Given that this Coin Index doesnt show all the coins thus far discovered I think its safe to double the figure which still leaves us with less than 1000 specimens in existance

lets just say that they are rare and underpriced right now

here is the url of the registered coins of the Catuvellauni of which the  CUNO Corn Ear stater is a member...just scroll down towards the bottom to find them

http://www.celticcoins.ca/tribe.php?tribe=TRI

Personally I think this Gold Stater is a good candidate for a coin that best represents the Celtic Staters of the Uk and happens to be my favorite Celtic Britain coin