Harlow Flyer. Sills British Lb2, class 1, dies 2/2. c.55-45 BC. Gold quarter stater. 12mm. 1.12g. Vertical wreath crossed by pellet line within plain lines, ‘bear’s paws’ in angles, crescents below./ Full-bodied horse right, double wing motif above, cogwheel below. ABC 2368, VA−, BMC−, DK 444, S−. CCI 92.0025 (this coin). Near EF, sharply struck in golden gold, full cogwheel. Ex John Follows collection, ex Nigel Mills collection. Found Grays, Essex, c.1991. VERY RARE type, only 16 others recorded, EXCESSIVELY RARE this die pair, only two others recorded.

The double wing motif is derived from what looks like a winged sceptre on Whaddon Chase staters and quarters (ABC 2430-39, 2457). The classical prototype is the Wand of Hermes, commonly called caduceus. Esoterically the two wings may represent inner sight and inner hearing. Follows’ fabulous Flyer comes from an incomparable collection of British gold quarter staters formed by the antiquities expert Nigel Mills, author of Celtic and Roman Artefacts (Greenlight, 2000). Published in Divided Kingdoms, pp.458 and 475 (this coin). Not in VA, BMC nor Spink.