Catalog
Gold Stater without monogram
| Issuer | Uncertain Gallia Celtica tribes |
|---|---|
| Year | 225 BC - 175 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| 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 | Hammered |
| 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 | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Celticised charioteer driving a fast biga to the right, holding a kentron (goad) and reins in a highly abstracted La Tène rendering in which the human figure and horses are reduced to dynamic curvilinear and geometric forms. The charioteer's body is stylised into a series of pellets, arcs, and scrolls, while the galloping horses are suggested by fluid, energetic lines. Below the horses, a devolved facing bust of Helios — derived ultimately from Hellenistic coin types — appears as a schematised solar head with radiating hair, further abstracted into decorative Celtic motifs. The reverse field is otherwise plain, with no legend or exergual inscription. The overall composition reflects the progressive Celticisation of the original Philip II gold stater prototype. |
| 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 (225 BC - 175 BC) |
| Additional information |
The gold staters of Gallia Celtica issued across this period represent a long devolution from the Macedonian gold stater of Philip II, whose coins flooded westward as mercenary pay following campaigns in the Balkans and Greece during the mid-fourth century. Each successive generation of Gaulish celators simplified and abstracted the prototype — what began as a recognizable Hellenic design became increasingly geometric across three or four generations of copying. The absence of any monogram on this piece complicates attribution to a specific tribe or workshop, a problem that has divided scholars between broadly distributing these to the Bituriges, the Arverni, and neighboring groups with overlapping territories.