Potin with hippocampus, head with balled hair

The Aedui occupied a strategically pivotal position in central Gaul — nominally allied with Rome yet deeply entangled in the intertribal conflicts that gave Caesar his pretext for intervention after 58 BC. This potin falls squarely within the decade Caesar spent dismantling Gaulish political independence, and circulation likely ended abruptly rather than through ordinary attrition.

Potin — a cast lead-tin-copper alloy — was the Aedui's practical answer to a shortage of precious metal for small-denomination exchange. Cast rather than struck, these pieces frequently show seam lines from the clay molds.