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Obol Karlsteiner Art Type
| Issuer | Kingdom of Noricum |
|---|---|
| Year | 200 BC - 1 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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| Obverse description | Plain, strongly convex hemispherical boss filling the entire flan, characteristic of the Karlsteiner type Celtic obol. The surface is devoid of any figural or epigraphic design, presenting a smooth, dome-like raised relief typical of the incuse or blank obverse convention employed for these small denomination Celtic silver issues. The irregular flan edge reflects hand-hammered production methods of the period. |
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| Reverse description | Highly stylized Celtic horse prancing to the left, rendered in the abstract La Tène artistic tradition characteristic of Norican coinage. The body of the horse is represented by two prominent globular pellets, with schematic limbs indicated by short curved strokes below. Additional pellets and curved linear elements in the field represent the mane, tail, and surrounding decorative motifs. The overall composition, enclosed within an irregular beaded or pelleted border, reflects the advanced abstraction of the Karlsteiner Art type, derived from earlier Greek prototypes. |
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| Additional information |
Noricum, the Celtic kingdom occupying roughly modern Austria and parts of Slovenia, developed a distinctive regional coinage tradition well before Roman absorption in 15 BC. The Karlsteiner group represents a late phase of Noric silver production, progressively abstracted from earlier Macedonian prototype influences over generations of local die-cutting. At 0.58g, these obols circulated as the smallest fractional denomination in a system where the larger units have attracted most scholarly attention — leaving the fractional series comparatively understudied.
Kostial's corpus remains the primary reference for systematic attribution of Noric types.