The Aedui occupied a peculiar position in late Republican Gaul — nominally "brothers and kinsmen of the Roman people" by senatorial declaration, yet minting their own coinage in volume right through Caesar's campaigns that swept across their territory beginning in 58 BC. Potin, a low-tin bronze alloy, was the workhorse metal for Gallic small change, and Aeduan issues of this type circulated heavily across the Saône valley. The casting rather than striking of potin flans produces the characteristically rough surfaces that define the type.
The Aedui occupied a peculiar position in late Republican Gaul — nominally "brothers and kinsmen of the Roman people" by senatorial declaration, yet minting their own coinage in volume right through Caesar's campaigns that swept across their territory beginning in 58 BC. Potin, a low-tin bronze alloy, was the workhorse metal for Gallic small change, and Aeduan issues of this type circulated heavily across the Saône valley. The casting rather than striking of potin flans produces the characteristically rough surfaces that define the type.