Catalog
Potin
| Issuer | Nervii (Gallia Belgica) |
|---|---|
| Year | 100 BC - 1 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Stater |
| 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 | Highly stylized facing head rendered in the late La Tène Celtic artistic tradition, the facial features dissolved into a symmetrical arrangement of curved and scrolled lines radiating outward from a central vertical axis. A prominent vertical element — likely a schematic nose or torc motif — divides the composition, flanked on either side by swirling, comma-shaped forms evoking hair, beard, or decorative curls. The design fills the flan entirely, with no legend or inscription. The overall treatment is characteristic of the abstract, pattern-driven style adopted by the Belgic tribes in their potin coinage. |
|---|---|
| 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 (100 BC - 1 BC) |
| Additional information |
The Nervii occupied territory roughly corresponding to modern Hainaut and southern Belgium, and were among the tribes Julius Caesar described as the most warlike of the Belgae — a claim he may have inflated to magnify his own victory against them at the Sabis River in 57 BC, where he reported nearly complete annihilation of their fighting force. Potin coinage of this type circulated through that disruption and likely well past it, as Caesar's campaigns did not immediately extinguish local monetary production in pacified territories.
Potin — a low-tin bronze alloy cast rather than struck — was a Gaulish solution to the practical difficulty of producing coinage without sophisticated die and hammer infrastructure.