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Drachm Philip III Type
| Issuer | Uncertain Eastern European Celts |
|---|---|
| Year | 300 BC - 101 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
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| Currency | Drachm |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Stylised barbarian imitation of the Herakles head type, facing right, wearing the Nemean lion-skin headdress tied beneath the chin, with the scalp rendered in a schematic Celtic manner. The facial features display a bold, somewhat abstracted treatment characteristic of Eastern Celtic die-cutters, with a pronounced rounded cheek, almond-shaped eye, and curling hair visible beneath the lion-scalp. A beaded border frames the field along the coin's circumference. The overall style closely follows the Macedonian prototype of Philip III Arrhidaeus yet exhibits the stylistic divergence typical of Celtic workshop reinterpretation. |
|---|---|
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| Mintage | ND (300 BC - 101 BC) |
| Additional information |
Philip III Arrhidaeus, the intellectually disabled half-brother of Alexander the Great, reigned as nominal king from 323 to 317 BC — a figurehead manipulated by competing diadochi until Olympias had him executed. Celtic tribes in the eastern Balkans and Carpathian basin began striking imitative drachms from Macedonian prototypes during his reign and continued producing them for two centuries, drifting progressively further from the original type with each successive die generation. By the later issues, the abstraction is so extreme that the prototype is almost unrecognizable without reference material.