Tasciovanos Tascio Ricon. Sills class 7b, dies 41/72. c.25 BC-AD 10. Gold stater. 17-19mm. 5.45g. TASCIO RICON in two panels on vertical wreath./ Cavalryman charging left, wearing chain-mail armour, holding dagger and shield, beaded ringed-pellet below, beaded border. ABC 2580, VA 1780-5, BMC 1629-33, DK 515, S 219. CCI 01.1975 (this coin). Good VF, rich golden gold, lovely cavalryman, well displayed. Ex John Follows collection, ex Sir Richard Ground collection, Spink 22.9.2014, lot 36; ex CNG 4.4.2001, lot 1697. RARE type EXCESSIVELY RARE die pair, only four others recorded.

Rigon, spelt here as ricon, seems to be a contraction of rigonos, perhaps the genitive of rigu ‘king’ (Oliver Simkin, What does rigon mean? Chris Rudd List 111, May 2010, p.2-4) or even ‘supreme king’ as suggested by Rainer Kretz. The reverse of Follows’ Ricon stater is especially rewarding because it clearly shows the cavalryman charging into battle, clad in a short tunic of chain-mail armour and wearing a wide-brimmed iron helmet. He’s looking back in his saddle as he wields a sword and carries a large elliptical shield. This must surely be one of the most evocative and realistic military images ever seen on an Ancient British coin. Sir Richard Ground OBE (1949-2019) was Attorney General of the Cayman Islands, Chief Justice of the Turks and Caicos Islands and then Chief Justice of Bermuda. Follows’ stater is published in Divided Kingdoms, p.606 (this coin).