Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Tetradrachm Verkehrter Lorbeerkranz Type
| Issuer | Uncertain Eastern European Celts |
|---|---|
| Year | 300 BC - 201 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Round (irregular) |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Celticized head of Zeus facing right, rendered in a stylized barbarous manner derived from Macedonian prototype coinage. The effigy is adorned with a prominent laureate wreath depicted in the characteristic 'verkehrter' (reversed) arrangement, with large, boldly modeled leaves extending prominently to the left. The facial features are abstracted in typical Celtic La Tène artistic style, with a large almond-shaped eye, exaggerated curving hair locks, and a short beard indicated by scroll-like incisions at the chin. A pellet and serpentine ornamental device appear in the lower field before the face. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Rider on horseback advancing to the left in a dynamic, energetic pose characteristic of Eastern Celtic coinage derived from the Philip II Macedonian tetradrachm type. The horse is depicted rearing with legs raised, rendered in a stylized, abstracted manner with a striped or segmented tail curling downward at left. The rider's figure is schematically rendered, holding what appears to be a torque or reins. Additional subsidiary symbols populate the field, including a bird to the upper left, a disjointed horse head to the upper right, and further abstract ornamental devices in the lower field. The overall composition reflects the progressive Celtic abstraction of the original Greek prototype. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
This type belongs to the broad Celtic imitative tradition that drew from Macedonian prototypes circulating after Alexander's campaigns pushed coinage deep into central and eastern Europe. The "reversed wreath" designation — Verkehrter Lorbeerkranz — identifies a specific die development in which the wreath orientation diverged from its prototype, a drift that occurred gradually across generations of Celtic die-cutters working from increasingly remote exemplars rather than the originals.
Attribution to "Uncertain Eastern European Celts" reflects a genuine scholarly impasse: the type clusters geographically across the Carpathian basin but resists clean assignment to a single tribe or mint center.