Stater - Lysimachos Kolchis imitation

The Bastarnae occupied a contested zone between the Celtic and Iranian worlds, and their gold coinage reflects that ambiguity directly — imitating the prestigious Lysimachean stater type that had circulated as a trusted trade medium across the Black Sea region for over two centuries by this point. These Kolchis-group imitations are distinguished from other barbarian Lysimachean derivatives by specific stylistic degeneration patterns in the die work, placing their production within a network of tribes operating north and east of the Danube delta.

The Bastarnae are recorded by Roman sources raiding into Thrace and Macedonia as early as the 170s BC, and were eventually enrolled as Roman foederati under Augustus.