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Tetradrachm Herakleskopf Type
| Issuer | Uncertain Eastern European Celts |
|---|---|
| Year | 200 BC - 1 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Celticised head of Herakles facing right, rendered in the distinctive abstracted Celtic artistic idiom derived from Macedonian prototype coinage. The hero wears the lion skin headdress, its stylised contours reduced to bold, schematic outlines characteristic of Eastern Celtic engravers. An S-form curvilinear ornament occupies the field before the head, a typical decorative motif of this coin series. The flan is irregular and the relief bold, consistent with hand-struck Celtic silver coinage of the period. |
|---|---|
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| Mintage | ND (200 BC - 1 BC) |
| Additional information |
The "Herakleskopf" series is a loose grouping of Celtic silver imitations ultimately derived from the tetradrachms of Philip II of Macedon, filtered through generations of copying until the original imagery became increasingly abstracted. Attribution to a specific tribe remains unresolved — the broad "uncertain Eastern European Celts" designation reflects genuine scholarly disagreement rather than cataloging laziness. Göbl's typology attempted to organize these by stylistic devolution, but die linkage studies have complicated clean classification ever since.
The two-century date range assigned to this type reflects how long certain Celtic workshops continued striking nearly identical types with minimal typological drift.