Bronze with lion and boar CATAL

The Carnutes occupied the region around modern Chartres and Orléans, and their territory held particular religious significance as the annual gathering place of the Gaulish druids — a detail recorded by Caesar in the Gallic Wars. Their potin issues, cast rather than struck, were produced during precisely the decades Caesar was dismantling Gaulish political autonomy, making the survival of a functioning tribal monetary system into the late first century BC something of an archaeological surprise.

Potin casting technology in this region drew on earlier La Tène traditions; the alloy's high tin content distinguishes Carnutes issues from the bronze coinages of neighboring tribes.