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Tetradrachm Thasos Type
| Issuer | Uncertain Eastern European Celts |
|---|---|
| Year | 200 BC - 1 BC |
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| Currency | Drachm |
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| Obverse description | Stylized male head in right profile, derived from the Dionysus prototype of the Thasian tetradrachm series, rendered in a characteristic Celtic schematic idiom. The hair is rendered as a mass of globular pellets and flowing locks arranged in bold relief above a wreath or diadem rendered as a thick arc, with individual curls dissolving into abstract blob-like forms. Facial features are summarily indicated, with a protruding nose and a rudimentary eye visible in profile. The overall treatment reflects the progressive barbarization of the Hellenistic prototype, with naturalistic detail replaced by vigorous, plastic Celtic stylization. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Celtic imitations of Thasian tetradrachms proliferated across the middle Danube basin from roughly the second century BC onward, produced by tribes who had no interest in replicating the original's meaning — only its silver content and its acceptability in trade. The prototypes they copied were themselves already late Thasian issues, struck after 148 BC when Rome dissolved the Macedonian kingdom and Thasos briefly resumed autonomous coinage. Celtic die-cutters abstracted successive generations of copies until the designs became entirely schematic, making precise attribution to a specific tribal group nearly impossible without hoard context.
Göbl's Class III/A represents one of the more degenerate die families in this sequence.