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Tetradrachm Kugelwange Type
| Issuer | Uncertain Eastern European Celts |
|---|---|
| Year | 300 BC - 201 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Tetradrachm (4) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Stylized horse prancing or rearing to the left, executed in the abstracted Celtic interpretation of the Macedonian reverse type. The horse's body is rendered with smooth, voluminous forms, and the mane is depicted as a series of curved, spiral, and pellet-tipped tresses in the La Tène decorative tradition. A large annulet with a central pellet (ring-and-dot motif) appears prominently in the upper field above the horse's back. Additional pellets are scattered in the field, and a vestigial charioteer or rider element may be suggested by abstract linear forms. No legend or inscription present. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
The "Kugelwange" — literally "ball cheek" — designation refers to a highly stylized die tradition in which the facial features of the prototype Macedonian tetradrachm have been reduced to abstract geometric forms, a process of deliberate artistic transformation rather than degradation. Celtic die cutters working somewhere in the middle Danube region inherited Philip II's coinage as a monetary model but had no interest in naturalistic portraiture. Attribution remains genuinely contested; Kostial and Göbl assign overlapping regional ranges across modern Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania without consensus.