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Tetradrachm Schnabelpferd type
| Issuer | Costoboci |
|---|---|
| Year | 200 BC - 101 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Highly stylized, abstracted Celtic rendering of a male head facing right, reduced to schematic elements characteristic of the Dacian Schnabelpferd (beak-horse) tradition. The visage is depicted in a degenerate Hellenistic manner, with leaf-shaped or pellet-cluster motifs representing facial features such as the eye and hair. The surface of the flan is irregular, typical of hand-struck Celtic coinage of the Carpathian region. The design is executed in deeply cut relief with bold, flowing lines and pellet ornaments arranged around the field. |
|---|---|
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| Mintage | ND (200 BC - 101 BC) |
| Additional information |
The Costoboci remain one of the more poorly documented Dacian tribal groups, and attributing coinage to them carries genuine scholarly uncertainty — the Schnabelpferd ("beak-horse") type takes its name from the characteristically abstracted equine rendering that became progressively more stylized across successive die generations, making seriation the primary tool for relative dating within the second century BC. These coins derived ultimately from Macedonian prototypes, Philip II tetradrachms circulating west and north through trade and mercenary payment, then locally imitated and re-imitated until the original iconographic sources became nearly unrecognizable.