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GROUP L

In Group L, the curved front section of the neck on the obverse is abandoned, and it resumes the general shape of the earlier coins of Group H and all but the last coin of Group J. The reverse design undergoes major changes: the pony is no longer human-headed, its nose comes to a point, its mane larger, its neck arched. The effect is reminiscent of a seahorse. The tail, which had been of the same design in all of the Coriosolite coins, is now wavy, and consists of four strands.

It is easy to imagine this pony as an ancestor of the Shetland, and the Celtic chariot pony may as well have looked very much like this. Although the Gauls were no longer using ponies for welfare like their British counterparts, it is likely that some were retained for ceremonial or parade purposes. The die engraver seems to have taken his inspiration from a life study, as I know of no other representation of this style, on coins or artifacts.

The driver's head resumes the form of Group H and the early part of Group I. The driver's body is omitted, but his hand is retained, and issues from his nose in a straight line. The standard in front of the pony, also prevalent in Group H and early Group I, is resumed. The upper section of the boar's foreleg, instead of being a straight line, now consists of two curved lines. The chronology of this group is difficult to ascertain, although the last two coins, by reason of the style of the lashes, are at least in a logical sequence. In part, this difficulty in ordering these coins is caused by Rybot's decision to incorporate five varieties into one illustration (Coin 73). That the varieties are all recorded has to be taken on trust.

There is a specimen of Coin 73 in my own collection, where the driver has no arm section; whether the coin is of the second or fourth variation cannot be determined, as the banner is off the flan. Rybot may have considered the missing arm too trivial to record, or perhaps it is a variation not present in the hoard. There may also be variations in the boars in these varieties, particularly in the presence of the upper hind leg, as in Coin 74, or its absence, as in Coin 72.

The chronology is as follows:

Group

L

Coins

(72, 73, 74).

Chronology of Group K Coins

The obverse of Coin 72 differs from the obverses of Group K not only by the style of the neck, as previously mentioned, but also by the change in the lower section of the mouth ornament above the curl from a solid line to one composed of beads.

On the reverse of Coin 72, the pony's ears resemble a letter "N" lying on its side, the topmost upright connecting to the front of the mane. Each of the forelegs terminates in a bead at the top: one bead is set at the base of the chest section, the other at the junction of the shoulder ridge. The lash is composed of three somewhat wavy lines that run parallel to each other, each line connecting to a bead at the top of the "Union Jack" banner. As mentioned before, the boar's hind leg is missing the upper section.

The obverses of the five varieties recorded here as Coin 73 are assumed to be of the same type a Coin 72, differing only in the proportions of the elements and how they relate to each other. The specimen in my own collection has a forelock that is set far lower on the forehead than the one on Coin 72, and the nose is thus smaller and also set lower.

The first reverse variation has a scalloped line at the top of the mane instead of the usual beads, and the lines of the lash come together to a point, connecting to the curl of the head above the pony at a position lower than on Coin 72.

The second variation has a banner that is divided into a top and bottom section, each containing an "X", one line of the lash connecting to the bead at the left, the other two lines to the bead at the right.

The third variation is the same as the previous one, except that the pony has no ears.

The fourth variation has a banner consisting of a St. George's (Greek) cross-superimposed with two double chevrons opposed at their points.

The fifth and last variation has a lash of two criss-crossed wavy lines containing a series of X's in all the compartments except the two closest to the head above the pony. The first compartment, closest to the head, is larger than the others, and connects to the curl of the head in a pincer-like manner; the second is too small to contain an X. This small compartment is bracketed above and below with two small curved lines, which also appear at the junctions of the main lines of the lash. The lash becomes a single line at the banner end, and forks out to connect to both sides of the top of the banner, which is of the same stacked X-in-square type as the second variation.

Coin 74 differs from Coin 72 on the obverse by the resumption of the usual type of mouth ornament.

The reverse of Coin 74 omits the driver's arm section. The pony is earless and its shoulder ridge continues above the back into a curl opposed to the curl of the mane. The front legs are drawn in the usual manner. The lash is a simplified version of the fifth variation of the last coin: it is formed of two opposed wavy lines, the three wide sections each containing an X. The top of the lash again connects to the head above the pony, in a pincer-like manner; the bottom connects to the "Union Jack" standard at the center and right-hand bead. The boar once again has the upper hind leg section.

The variations found on the coins of Group L have, for the most part, been random. The only indication of evolutionary change is the lash of the fifth variety of Coin 73, which is perfected in Coin 74 and continues with variations in the next group. This lash design occurred previously in Group H and I; in those coins (33 and 49), it was less successful, containing only two X's, and coming to a point where it met the head above the pony. in-group L, it is used with more flamboyance, and the pincer-like ends provide negative spaces that are both more pleasing and more characteristic of Celtic art of the period.

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