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Drachm Sattelkopfpferd type

Issuer Uncertain Dacian tribes
Year 150 BC - 50 BC
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Thickness 4.6 mm
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Reverse description Highly stylized and degenerate imitation of the Macedonian reverse type derived from the tetradrachms of Philip II of Macedon, depicting a rider on horseback galloping to the left. Both the horse and rider are rendered in a schematic, abstracted Dacian artistic manner, with the horse's body reduced to geometric globular forms and the legs presented as thin, splayed strokes. The characteristic 'Sattelkopfpferd' (saddle-head horse) feature is evident in the distinctive treatment of the horse's head and neck. No legend or inscription appears in the field or exergue.
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Edge Plain
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Additional information

These coins are Dacian imitations of the Macedonian tetradrachm of Philip II, copied and recopied so many times across generations that the original imagery degraded into near-abstraction. The "Sattelkopfpferd" — saddle-head horse — takes its name from the distinctive schematic animal that emerged from successive die-copying, the equine form reduced to a geometric silhouette unrecognizable from its prototype.

Attribution to specific tribes remains impossible. Hoards from Transylvania and the Carpathian basin have produced these in quantity, but the issuing authority behind any individual piece is unknown.