Catalog
Stater with intertwined lines
| Issuer | Caleti |
|---|---|
| Year | 200 BC - 115 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A stylized horse galloping left in the characteristic Gallo-Belgic abstract tradition, its body rendered with schematic linear forms. A charioteer figure or driver is represented above the horse, holding a goad or whip. A lyre motif appears beneath the horse in the lower field, serving as a decorative subsidiary symbol. No inscription or legend is present; the design reflects the progressive abstraction of the Philip II stater prototype common to Belgic Celtic coinage. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
The Caleti were a Belgic tribe occupying the Seine-Maritime coastal region, and their gold coinage derives ultimately from Macedonian staters that circulated through Gaul as mercenary pay during the 3rd century BC. Over successive generations of local copying, the original Hellenistic types were progressively abstracted into the geometric and curvilinear forms characteristic of this issue — a process of deliberate stylistic drift rather than degraded craftsmanship.
Julius Caesar identified the Caleti among the tribes he encountered during the Gallic Wars, placing them within the broader Belgic confederacy. Production of this coinage had almost certainly ceased before that conflict ended their political independence entirely.