The Bituriges Cubi occupied the territory around modern Bourges — Avaricum in Caesar's account — and were among the Gallic peoples most directly caught in the military campaigns of 58–52 BC. Caesar's forces razed Avaricum in 52 BC, killing the bulk of the population. Coins of this type were almost certainly still in circulation at that moment.
The ABVCATOS legend remains incompletely understood: possibly a magistrate's name, possibly a title. The electrum alloy at roughly 10 carats places this well below archaic Greek electrum standards, a deliberate debasement common among late Gaulish issues as silver supplies tightened under Roman pressure.
The Bituriges Cubi occupied the territory around modern Bourges — Avaricum in Caesar's account — and were among the Gallic peoples most directly caught in the military campaigns of 58–52 BC. Caesar's forces razed Avaricum in 52 BC, killing the bulk of the population. Coins of this type were almost certainly still in circulation at that moment.
The ABVCATOS legend remains incompletely understood: possibly a magistrate's name, possibly a title. The electrum alloy at roughly 10 carats places this well below archaic Greek electrum standards, a deliberate debasement common among late Gaulish issues as silver supplies tightened under Roman pressure.