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Tetradrachm Leierblume Type
| Issuer | Uncertain Eastern European Celts |
|---|---|
| Year | 300 BC - 201 BC |
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| Currency | Drachm |
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| Obverse description | Heavily Celticised laureate head facing right, derived from the Macedonian prototype of Alexander III. The laureate wreath is rendered in a highly stylised, abstracted manner with large leaf-like pellets arranged across the upper field. The facial features are schematically depicted, with a prominent eye rendered as a raised pellet, and the neck area adorned with a torque-form ear ornament characteristic of Celtic artistic convention. The hair falls in sweeping, curvilinear locks behind the head, dissolving into abstract decorative elements. The flan is irregular and the field is without legend or inscription. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
This type belongs to the broader tradition of Celtic imitative coinage derived from the Philip II Macedonian tetradrachm, which spread north and west through the Balkans following Macedonian military contact and mercenary activity in the fourth and third centuries BC. The attribution to "uncertain Eastern European Celts" reflects a genuine unresolved question — die studies by Göbl and Castelin have narrowed the production zone to somewhere within the Carpathian basin, but no single tribal group has been confirmed as issuer.
The "Leierblume" designation is a modern typological label, not an ancient one, coined by German-speaking numismatists to group related die families by their distinctive floral degeneration pattern.