Group B is where the Class V coins begins. Class V is distinguished, on the obverse, by a nose shaped like a shepherd's crook, and on the reverse, by a cross in front of the pony. This cross is knopped on three limbs and at the intersection, and may represent the chariot pole and either the swingle tree or the yoke. Below the pony, the boar is replaced by a conjoined lyre and sun symbol; under which is a beaded line surmounting a line of downward-pointing arcs, both curved to the contours of the die. As in the subgroups A1 and A2, the two subgroups B1 and B2 are defined by eye shapes; however, unlike the former subgroups, there is no clear feature to the hair arrangement, which distinguished them from each other. The chronology is as follows:
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Group
Subgroup B1 |
Coins
(6) |
While being part of Class V, this group could likely be contemporary with Coins 1 to 3 of Group A, or following directly after them (and before Coins 4 and 5). As the mane curl is not yet fully integrated into the diadem, and the driver's body is of the earlier style.
The obverse of Coin 6 is closely related to Coins 1 and 2 of Group A in the way the eye is engraved, but it is also similar to Coins 3 and 4 of the same group, by reason of the alternating curl and straight hair at the front of the head. As the eye is the most obvious feature of the two, I have designated this coin as Subgroup B1. On the reverse, the driver's arm extends from the top of the torso, instead of from the lower part as it seems to in the first three coins of Group A.
The pony has a diadem, but here, unlike the last two coins of the previous group, the mane curl is not integrated into it. This is the only coin in this group where the pony's neck is indicated. In Coin 6, the mane curl is clearly depicted as a sickle: the significance of this will be discussed in Chapter 6. Other aspects of this coin are the changes that define it as Class V: the nose on the obverse, and the symbols before and beneath the pony.
On the obverse of Coin 7, the change in design of the eye affiliates this coin with Coins 3 to 5 of Group A, as well as with the remaining coins of Series X. At the front of the head, there is a straight hair between the second and third curls. On the reverse, the diadem is crescent-shaped and extends to the bottom of the pony's head. This, combined with the sickle-shaped mane curl, gives this detail the unfortunate aspect of a modern coat hanger.
On the obverse of Coin 8, the stalked lips are almost V-shaped, and, while the hairs of the head are arranged as in Coin 6, there are fewer of them. The style of the reverse of Coin 8 more closely resembles the earlier coins of Group A: the pony has no diadem, and the mane curl is not sickle-shaped.
I have separated the coins of Group B from those of Group A for typological reasons. The design evolution runs from Coins 4 and 5 of group to Coins 9 and 10 of group C. The other coins of Group A and B appear to be earlier in their designs. The few dies within these two groups, and the difficulty in recovering many original details, due to the coins' rarity and subsequent incomplete impressions, make it impossible to establish a clear chronology.