Tetradrachm Unfaithful Legend Type

The so-called "Unfaithful Legend" designation refers to Celtic die-cutters copying Greek coin inscriptions — most likely derived from Macedonian or Thasian prototypes — without literacy in the source language, producing garbled or purely decorative letter-forms that mimic script without conveying meaning. This was not incompetence but cultural transmission: the legend carried prestige, not information. Attribution to a specific tribe remains unresolved, with the broader Eastern European Celtic zone spanning modern Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania all producing related fabric.