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Potin with large helmeted head and smooth headband
| Issuer | Sequani |
|---|---|
| Year | 100 BC - 10 BC |
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| Composition | Potin |
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| Obverse description | Highly stylized, oversized Celtic head in left profile, occupying nearly the entire flan in the manner characteristic of Sequani potin coinage. The effigy wears a helmet distinguished by a double smooth headband rendered in low relief. Facial features are reduced to schematic abstract elements: the eye is rendered as an empty void, and the mouth is indicated by a single globule, reflecting the geometric conventions of La Tène artistic tradition. The hair or helmet crest is suggested by simplified curved lines framing the head. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
The Sequani occupied the territory of modern Franche-Comté and were among the more politically volatile of the Gallic tribes — it was their appeal to Ariovistus and his Germanic forces for military assistance against the Aedui that ultimately gave Julius Caesar his pretext for intervention in Gaul in 58 BC. Potin coinage of this type was cast rather than struck, a distinction that matters: Gallic potin production involved ladling molten alloy into clay or stone moulds, often in linked chains, leaving characteristic casting sprues that were broken off before circulation.
The smooth headband variant catalogued under DT 3091 is typologically distinct from related Sequani issues with beaded or decorated bands — a die-level detail that helps sequence the series chronologically within the tribe's output.