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Tetradrachm Entenschnabel Type
| Issuer | Uncertain Eastern European Celts |
|---|---|
| Year | 300 BC - 201 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Celticised male head facing right, derived from the Philip II tetradrachm prototype, featuring a pearl-diademed coiffure rendered as a bold row of raised pellets across the crown. The hair is depicted in schematic, sweeping strands falling behind the neck, and a pronounced pointed beard — characteristic of the so-called 'Entenschnabel' (duck-bill) style — projects forward beneath the chin. The facial features are rendered in the abstracted Celtic idiom, with a large curving nose, globular eye, and fleshy cheek, reflecting the progressive Celticisation of the Macedonian archetype. The flan is irregular and slightly off-centre, typical of hammered Celtic coinage of the period. |
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| Mintage | ND (300 BC - 201 BC) |
| Additional information |
The "Entenschnabel" — duck's bill — designation refers to the distinctive flan shape produced when Celtic die-cutters in the eastern provinces deliberately distorted the planchet geometry, a departure from Macedonian prototypes that had filtered west and north through trade and mercenary payment routes following Alexander's campaigns. These coins were struck by tribes whose precise identity remains unresolved; the attribution to "uncertain Eastern European Celts" is an honest admission that the find-spot distribution spans too wide a zone for confident tribal assignment.
The Kostial and Göbl references place this piece within a typological sequence rather than a mint chronology — there were no mints in any institutional sense, only itinerant craftsmen working portable equipment.