Catalog
1/2 Unit Trotting horse
| Issuer | Cessetani people |
|---|---|
| Year | 150 BC - 100 BC |
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| Currency | Unit (early 2nd century BC) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Iberian (Levantine) |
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| Reverse description | A horse trotting to the right, depicted with lively, energetic rendering characteristic of Iberian bronze coinage. The Iberian legend in Levantine semi-syllabic script appears below the horse and between its legs, reading (KE)SE, referencing the mint city of Kese (modern Tarragona). The design is typical of Cessetani fractional bronzes, with the horse serving as the principal civic emblem of the issuing community. |
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| Additional information |
The Cessetani were an Iberian people occupying territory around modern Tarragona — Kese in ancient sources — whose bronze coinage circulated during a period of intensifying Roman administrative pressure following the Second Punic War. These fractional issues were struck not by a Roman authority but by the Cessetani themselves, part of a broader pattern of indigenous Iberian mints producing their own bronze under nominal Roman oversight. The half-unit denomination is distinguished from the full unit primarily by weight reduction rather than a redesigned type.