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Tetradrachm Apollokopf-Dickschrötling Type
| Issuer | Uncertain Dacian tribes |
|---|---|
| Year | 300 BC - 201 BC |
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| Value | Tetradrachm (4) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Facing laureate head of Apollo rendered in a strongly stylised Celto-Dacian manner, filling the entire field of the broad, thick flan. The facial features are schematically modelled with deeply set eyes beneath a prominent brow, a broad nose, and full lips; flowing hair falls in thick, rope-like strands to either side of the face. A laurel wreath is indicated across the crown of the head by boldly rendered leaf forms. The design exhibits the characteristic debasement of the Macedonian prototype typical of Dacian imitative coinage, with a high-relief, almost globular treatment of the portrait. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Highly stylised rider on horseback moving to left, the composition reduced to schematic forms characteristic of Dacian Celtic imitative coinage. The horse is rendered with a simplified body and visible legs, while the rider above is barely distinguishable as a human figure. Above the horse, a curved row of pellets represents a stylised wreath or decorative element derived from the Macedonian prototype. The overall design shows marked abstraction from the original Philippic tetradrachm reverse type, with individual motifs dissolved into geometric and globular forms. |
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| Additional information |
Dacian silver tetradrachms of this class derive ultimately from the coinage of Philip II of Macedon, whose issues flooded the Balkans after his campaigns of the 350s–330s BC and became the dominant monetary template for tribal imitations across the Carpathian basin for generations. The "Dickschrötling" designation — thick flan — distinguishes this subtype from the broader Philip imitation tradition, where most issues migrated toward broader, thinner flans over time. This one moved in the opposite direction.
Attribution to specific Dacian tribal groups remains impossible with current evidence; die studies by Göbl placed it within a loose stylistic family rather than a mint or political authority.