Catalog
Stater large pellet
| Issuer | Caleti |
|---|---|
| Year | 125 BC - 100 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Highly stylized and severely abstracted effigy of Apollo facing right, rendered in the Celtic La Tène artistic tradition. The head is reduced to a series of bold, deeply incised geometric elements, with radiating hair locks rendered as broad striated fans emanating from the crown. Facial features are largely dissolved into the surrounding abstract field, with only vestigial relief suggesting the original Hellenistic prototype. The overall composition reflects the progressive Celticization of the classical Apollo head type derived from Macedonian gold staters of Philip II. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
The Caleti were a Belgic tribe occupying the Seine-Maritime region of northern Gaul, and their gold staters derive from the Macedonian gold staters of Philip II that circulated through the Celtic world as trade and mercenary payment beginning in the 4th century BC. By the time the Caleti were striking their own issues, the original prototype had been abstracted through generations of copying into the characteristic disjointed forms seen across Belgic coinage. The large pellet variant is distinguished from related Caleti types by a single prominent pellet, a detail used by specialists to differentiate die groups within this scarce tribal series.