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Bronze with birds and snake
| Issuer | Carnutes |
|---|---|
| Year | 100 BC - 1 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | 15.5 mm |
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| Obverse description | Stylized head facing right, the hair rendered in four wavy locks framing the face and terminating in globulated triangular ends; the surrounding field is filled with ruffled or pellet-decorated ornamental elements, characteristic of the schematized Celtic artistic tradition. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | An eagle attacking a serpent, depicted facing right in dynamic posture; below the eagle appears an alerion (a heraldic eaglet without beak or feet); the composition is flanked on one side by a pentagram and on the other by a ball cross ornamented with globules, all rendered in the abstract Celtic idiom typical of Carnutes coinage. |
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| Additional information |
The Carnutes occupied the territory around modern Chartres and Orléans — the region Roman sources, including Caesar, identified as the ritual center of all Gaul, where Druids gathered annually to settle disputes and conduct rites. Whether that religious authority influenced the iconographic choices on their coinage is impossible to confirm, but the Carnutes were among the tribes that initiated the great revolt of 52 BC, and coin production likely intensified in the years immediately surrounding that conflict.
Small cast or struck bronzes of this type circulated as low-denomination exchange within tribal markets rather than for tribute or military pay.