Catalog
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| Issuer | Uncertain Eastern European Celts |
|---|---|
| Year | 300 BC - 201 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Tetradrachm (4) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Celticised bearded male head, derived from the Zeus type of Philip II of Macedon, facing right. The hair is rendered in bold, deeply engraved Celtic curvilinear style with prominent wavy locks radiating around the face, replacing the naturalistic Greek prototype with vigorous abstract patterning. The beard is summarily but expressively treated, consistent with the late La Tène artistic tradition. No legend or inscription is present in the field. |
|---|---|
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| Mintage | ND (300 BC - 201 BC) |
| Additional information |
The "Zweigarm" types — named for the forked or branching arm motif derived from degraded Macedonian prototypes — represent one of the more heavily abstracted Celtic reinterpretations of the Philip II tetradrachm coinage that flooded eastward following the Macedonian campaigns. Over roughly a century of imitative copying, Celtic die-cutters progressively dissolved the original Greek iconography into geometric and linear forms that bear almost no resemblance to their source material. Pinning a specific tribal attribution remains impossible; the distribution of findspots across the Carpathian basin suggests multiple workshops operating without central coordination.