Catalog
Drachm with the curly head
| Issuer | Sotiates |
|---|---|
| Year | 121 BC - 52 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Stylized Celtic head facing left, rendered in a highly abstracted La Tène artistic style. The hair is depicted as a mass of sinuous, snake-like curling tendrils radiating from the crown and cascading down behind the neck. The facial features are schematically reduced to a prominent pellet eye and a curved line suggesting the nose and mouth, typical of the late Gaulish coinage tradition. The overall composition fills the irregular flan with energetic, curvilinear movement characteristic of southwestern Gaulish Celtic art. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | ND (121 BC - 52 BC) |
| Additional information |
The Sotiates were an Aquitanian people whose territory lay in what is now the Gers department of southwestern France. Caesar's lieutenant Crassus reduced them by force around 56 BC after a prolonged siege — one of the more stubborn resistances in the Gallic campaigns. Their coinage sits outside the mainstream Celtic silver traditions of Gaul proper, reflecting Aquitania's distinct cultural and linguistic separation from the Gaulish north.
The LT 3015 variety designation places this piece within a recognized typological grouping, though the "var." notation signals a die or stylistic deviation not fully catalogued by Blanchet.