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Denier with hippocampus facing right
| Issuer | Allobroges |
|---|---|
| Year | 100 BC - 75 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | 16 mm |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A hippocampus — a mythological sea-horse — depicted in profile facing right, rendered in the characteristic schematic Celtic style. The creature displays a horse's foreparts with raised forelegs and a fish-like scaled tail curving upward behind. Additional decorative geometric or pellet motifs appear in the field surrounding the figure, typical of Allobrogian coinage. The overall composition fills the flan in the free-field manner common to late La Tène silver issues. |
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| Mintage | ND (100 BC - 75 BC) |
| Additional information |
The Allobroges, a powerful Gallic tribe occupying the region between the Rhône and the Alps, were subdued by Rome in 121 BC following a campaign by Quintus Fabius Maximus — yet continued issuing their own silver coinage for decades afterward. This denier belongs to that post-conquest period of uneasy Roman accommodation, during which tribal monetary systems persisted alongside Roman currency rather than being immediately displaced.
The hippocampus type is among the more distinctive in Allobrogian coinage, and the die work on this series shows notably uneven execution across known specimens.