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Drachm with cross, early series with dolphins wicks in balled commas, axe and globules
| Issuer | Volcæ Tectosages (Gallia Narbonensis) |
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| Year | 230 BC - 160 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Celticized male head facing left, rendered in the stylized La Tène artistic tradition, with pronounced facial features including a large almond-shaped eye, a broad nose, and a necklace of pellets at the neck. The hair is depicted as flowing, lobe-like masses arranged around the cranium. In the left field, two dolphins are positioned with their bodies curving in comma-like forms terminated by globules, serving as a distinctive diagnostic element of this early series. |
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| Mintage | ND (230 BC - 160 BC) |
| Additional information |
The Volcae Tectosages occupied territory centered on Tolosa (modern Toulouse) and were among the wealthier Celtic tribes of southern Gaul, largely because they sat on an ancient trade corridor linking the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. Their silver coinage drew directly from Massaliote drachm prototypes — the Greek colony at Massalia (Marseille) functioned as the monetary template for most of Narbonensian Gaul. What makes this early series distinctive is the progressive abstraction of those borrowed Greek elements into a visual language that is recognizably local.
The dolphin wicks rendered as balled commas are a chronological marker: they appear in the earliest die sequences before further stylization collapses them into near-unrecognizable forms in later issues.