Potin Unit Curved Bull / Holman C3

Evans: H2 (1864, p. 123, pl. H).

Allen Type: F1, F2, F3, F4, GB1, GB2, GB3.

Mack 9: Class 1 (large module). Apollo left, eye an annulet without pellet. Bull left, scrolls above, exergual line (Allen GB2).

Van Arsdell ‘Curved Bull’. Van Arsdell Classification: Cantian C, Innovative Period. His corresponding varieties are:
VA 112 - 01 (Crossed Striations, Holman C3/1-2): Head left. Bull left. Equally-thin striations cross at ninety degree angles in the coin's field. The pattern was produced by textile, pressed into the clay to produce the cavity system.
VA 115 - 01 (Medium Striations, Holman C3/1-2): Head left. Bull left. Deep and fairly heavy striations with blobs of metal interrupting them on both sides parallel to those on the other side. Striations run into the flash (produced independently of the cavity-formation process, when the moulds were cut from a block of clay with a wire).
VA 117 - 01 (Heavy Striations, Holman C3/1-2): Head left. Bull left. Striations broad but not deep, and not necessarily parallel. The striations were produced by wood pressed against the clay to smooth it.

David Holman proposes a detailed classification in A New Classification System for the Flat Linear Potin Coinage. This type corresponds with his Group C (Allen B, F1–4, GA and GB, plus the Thurnham type), which derive from Holman Group B.

Holman characterises Group C as having finer flans with neater designs. The head is of an open style and the bull is curvilinear. There is occasionally a central pellet on the reverse but never the obverse. Holman points out that striations (key to the ABC and Van Arsdell classifications) are common but not diagnostic, with coins of identical style occurring both with and without them. The ABC classification, Striations Left (ABC 153) and Striations Right (ABC 156), and Van Arsdell's are therefore both redundant. Given the variability of the series, Holman suggests a degree of flexibility, where the features given are not taken to be exact. There are five subgroups in Group C, of which this is the third:

Subgroup C3 (Allen F1, F4 and GB1-3): By far the commonest in Group C, varying widely in size and weight but usually 16-18mm and 1.1-2.7g. Most are 3h or 9h but vary. The head faces left and is always open with three separate lines for the profile and neckline, all detached from the curve of the head itself. The size of the eye ring varies. The bull faces left with two crescents above, sometimes with the front left noticably apart at the top, sometimes together. Striations are common but have no bearing on the classification.



Next in the chronological sequence is Holman C4. The previous type is Holman C2. The previous group is Holman B and the next is Holman D.