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1/8 Stater Athena Alkidemos Type
| Issuer | Boii |
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| Year | 200 BC - 101 BC |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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| Obverse description | Highly stylized and schematically rendered head of Athena facing right, wearing a crested Corinthian helmet, executed in the abstract Celtic artistic tradition derived from a Macedonian prototype. The facial features are broadly modeled in high relief, with the helmet crest and bowl rendered as bold, sweeping curves characteristic of La Tène artistic convention. The surrounding field is plain, with the flan exhibiting the irregular, convex surface typical of hand-struck Celtic gold coinage of this series. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
The Boii, a Celtic people who dominated much of central Europe through the middle Iron Age, were pushed progressively westward and northward by Roman military pressure following their catastrophic defeat at Telamon in 225 BC. This small fractional gold piece belongs to the later phase of Boian coinage, struck as the tribe's territory and autonomy were both contracting. By 58 BC, Caesar would describe the Boii as a people essentially broken, resettled as dependents of the Aedui after a final devastating defeat at the hands of the Helvetii.
The Alkidemos type takes its name from a Macedonian prototype — Philip V's coinage — absorbed and abstracted through successive generations of Celtic die-cutting.