Catalog
1/4 Gold Stater with small bare head Class I
| Issuer | Veneti (Gaulish tribe) |
|---|---|
| Year | 200 BC - 100 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A devolved chariot scene rendered in abstract Celtic style, featuring a charioteer driving a cart drawn by a centaur moving to the left; the charioteer holds the reins in his right hand and a long branch surmounted by a vexillum-like pennant in his left. Below the main group, a winged male figure strides or flies to the left, a secondary motif commonly associated with Armorican quarter-stater iconography. The entire composition shows the advanced stylistic degeneration of the original Macedonian prototype, with forms reduced to symbolic and ornamental elements. |
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| Mintage | ND (200 BC - 100 BC) |
| Additional information |
The Veneti occupied the Atlantic coast of what is now Brittany, and their coinage developed largely through contact with Armorican neighbors rather than direct Macedonian influence — making their gold fractions somewhat anomalous in typological terms. Class I of this series is distinguished by the reduced, unelaborated head treatment, likely an early step in the abstraction sequence that would eventually render figural types nearly unrecognizable on later Armorican issues.
At 1.92 g, these quarter staters circulated as functional trade currency in a region heavily dependent on cross-channel exchange with Britain, where comparable fractional gold was in active use.