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Potin with boar
| Issuer | Bituriges Cubi |
|---|---|
| Year | 80 BC - 50 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 4.79 g |
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| Obverse description | Celticized schematic head facing left, rendered in the La Tène artistic tradition with stylized swirling hair locks depicted as raised curved lines radiating around the cranium. The facial features are highly abstracted, with the eye, nose, and jaw reduced to geometric relief elements. The flan is irregular and slightly convex, characteristic of cast potin production. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Boar standing left in profile, depicted in schematic Celtic style with a prominent dorsal ridge and short legs indicated by simplified linear relief. An X-shaped symbol appears in the upper field above the animal's back, while an indistinct symbol or pellet grouping occupies the lower field beneath the boar. The overall composition is typical of late Gaulish potin coinage attributed to the Bituriges Cubi. |
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| Additional information |
The Bituriges Cubi, centered around Avaricum (modern Bourges), were among the Gallic tribes most devastated by Caesar's campaigns — Avaricum's sack in 52 BC resulted in the massacre of nearly 40,000 inhabitants according to Caesar's own account. Potin coinage of this tribe would have circulated through precisely that catastrophe, and examples surviving in any condition carry that chronological weight whether the metal shows it or not.
Potin — a cast tin-lead-copper alloy — was a distinctly Gallic monetary solution, produced by casting rather than striking. The DT 3504 classification places this firmly within a well-documented regional type, though cast potin pieces frequently show surface porosity and minor casting flaws inherent to the production method itself.