Stater - Alexander III Kolchis imitation

The Bastarnae occupied the lower Danube and northwestern Pontic steppe in a zone where Hellenistic coin use had been established for generations through trade and mercenary payment. Their gold staters imitating Alexander III issues belong to a broad tradition of Celtic and semi-nomadic groups producing official-looking coinage without any direct political connection to Macedon — the prototype was simply the most trusted gold denomination in circulation across the region. HGC 7, 219 places this type among the rarer Kolchis-related imitations, distinguished from mainstream Celtic Alexander copies by specific stylistic degeneration patterns tied to Black Sea transmission routes rather than Danubian ones.