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Denarius with helmeted head to the right and carnyxes
| Issuer | Aulerci Cenomani (Gallia Armorica) |
|---|---|
| Year | 80 BC - 50 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Hammered |
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| Obverse description | Stylized helmeted head facing right, rendered in the schematic La Tène artistic tradition characteristic of Armorican Celtic coinage. The helmet is depicted with a prominent crest, and the facial features are abstracted into elongated, deeply struck relief elements. Two carnyx war-trumpets with animal-head bells are prominently arranged in the field flanking the head, serving as the principal identifying device of this type. A beaded border is partially visible along the upper periphery of the flan. The overall execution reflects the distinctive degeneration of Hellenistic prototypes into the bold, expressionistic idiom of late Gaulish silversmithing. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
The Aulerci Cenomani occupied territory roughly corresponding to the region around present-day Le Mans, a Gaulish people distinct enough from their Aulerci neighbors — the Eburovices and Diablintes — to maintain their own coinage tradition. The carnyx, a bronze war trumpet whose bell was shaped as an open animal mouth, was carried into battle specifically to unsettle enemies through noise; its appearance on coinage served as deliberate martial currency, circulating among warriors whose Roman adversaries were, by the mid-first century BC, pressing deeper into Armorican territory each campaigning season.