Stater with intertwined lines

The Caleti occupied the coastal territory around the mouth of the Seine — roughly modern Normandy — and their coinage derives ultimately from the gold staters of Philip II of Macedon, which circulated widely through trade and mercenary payment networks before Celtic craftsmen began abstracting the designs beyond recognition. By the time pieces like this were struck, the original imagery had dissolved entirely into geometric convention, each generation of dies drifting further from the Macedonian prototype.

The tribe is mentioned by Caesar in the Gallic Wars as having sent forces to relieve Vercingetorix, placing their political reach into firm historical record even as their coinage predates Roman contact by generations.