Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Obol Eis Type
| Issuer | Kingdom of Noricum |
|---|---|
| Year | 200 BC - 1 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Drachm |
| 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 male head facing right, rendered in the abstract Celtic artistic tradition. The cranium is heavily schematized with a pronounced lentoid mass, surmounted by a series of bold rounded lobes suggesting a laureate or hair arrangement. Scattered pellets and circular bosses appear in the field around the head, characteristic of Norican Celtic coinage. A dotted border runs along the coin's periphery. The design reflects the late La Tène artistic style, derived ultimately from Hellenistic prototypes. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | A Winkelkreuz (angled cross or swastika-derived motif) occupying the central field, its four arms radiating diagonally and terminating near the coin's edge. A single prominent pellet is placed at the junction of the cross arms, serving as the focal point of the design. Four globular pellets or bosses are disposed symmetrically in the quadrants between the cross arms, flanking the central device. The composition is characteristic of the Eis type reverse design of Norican Celtic coinage, executed in the hammered relief typical of late La Tène small silver issues. |
| 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 | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Noricum's silver obols occupy an understudied corner of Celtic coinage — produced by a kingdom whose silver mining wealth in the eastern Alps was famous enough that Roman sources specifically noted it. The Noric mines around modern Styria supplied ore of unusually high purity, which may account for the consistent fineness observed across surviving specimens of this class.
Kostial's classification remains the primary reference for Noric small silver, though the two-century span assigned to this type reflects genuine uncertainty about internal chronology rather than continuous uninterrupted production.