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Home ▸ Catalog ▸ |Greek Coins| ▸ |Celtic & Tribal||View Options:  |  |  |   

Celtic Coins and Ancient Tribal Coinage

This page offers coins of the Celtic tribes, as well as coins of Iberian, German, Thracian, Paenonian, Illyrian, Dacian, Gaete, and other European tribes. These tribes struck coins from the late 4th century B.C. until the late 1st century B.C. They were introduced to coinage by the Greeks, with whom the traded, and for whom they sometimes worked as mercenaries. Tribal coins often copied Greek designs, especially Macedonian coins from the time of Philip II of Macedon and his son, Alexander the Great. Some became increasingly abstract over time. Map of Celtic Territiory

Celts, Southern Germany, Boii, c. 100 B.C.

|Celtic| |&| |Tribal|, |Celts,| |Southern| |Germany,| |Boii,| |c.| |100| |B.C.||stater|
The Rainbow Cup Coin. Medieval monks finding the strange cup shaped gold coins of the Boii described them as gold coins left at the end of a rainbow by magical forest inhabitants.
SH12089. Gold stater, Castelin 1069; Kellner Type II C, VF, scyphate, weight 7.563 g, maximum diameter 19.4 mm, obverse birds head in a torque (metal collar or armband) of crescents; reverse torque around six pellets; scarce; SOLD


Constantine the Great, Early 307 - 22 May 337 A.D., Unofficial Barbaric (Pannonian Tribes?)

|Constantine| |the| |Great|, |Constantine| |the| |Great,| |Early| |307| |-| |22| |May| |337| |A.D.,| |Unofficial| |Barbaric| |(Pannonian| |Tribes?)||solidus|
In Roman Imperial Coinage, on page 473, in the section on Sirmium, footnote 42 says, "In L. [London=British Museum] an irregular SECVPITAS PEI-PETVAE, obv. CONSTNATTI-VAS P F NNG, Bust B1, m.m. SINN, 3.71 gm." Our coin is apparently from the same dies. Certainly unofficial, perhaps this coin was struck by a Pannonian tribal mint?
SH94406. Gold solidus, RIC VII Sirmium 42 var. (British Museum specimen of same irregular variant noted), gF, well centered, blundered legends and mintmark, pale gold, light scratches, probably holed and filled, weight 4.100 g, maximum diameter 19.9 mm, die axis 180o, unofficial mint, c. 324 - 325 A.D.; obverse CONSTNATTI-IIAS P F NNG, laureate head right; reverse SECIIPITAS PEI-PETVAE, Emperor standing left, in military attire, right hand crowning trophy of captured arms erected before him, transverse scepter in left hand, shield and cuirass(?) left of base of trophy, SINN in exergue; SOLD


Celts, Danube Region, Imitative of Philip II of Macedonia, Late 4th - Early 3rd Century B.C.

|Celtic| |&| |Tribal|, |Celts,| |Danube| |Region,| |Imitative| |of| || |Philip| |II| |of| |Macedonia,| |Late| |4th| |-| |Early| |3rd| |Century| |B.C.||tetradrachm|
Unpublished in the references and websites examined by Forum. The elegant style is very close to that of the original type. The primary indicator it is a Celtic imitative rather than a Macedonian Kingdom issue is the incomplete legend.
SH63525. Silver tetradrachm, Le Rider -, Göbl OTA -, Pink -, CCCBM -, SNG ANS -, cf. Lanz 357 ff. (incomplete legend varieties, none with bee), VF, well centered, high relief, weight 13.946 g, maximum diameter 25.1 mm, die axis 45o, tribal mint, late 4th - early 3rd century B.C.; obverse laureate head of Zeus right; reverse ΦIΛIΠ-Π, naked youth on horse pacing right holding palm frond, bee below horse's belly; SOLD


Celtic, Senones, Gaul (Area of Sens, France), c. 100 - 60 B.C.

|Celtic| |&| |Tribal|, |Celtic,| |Senones,| |Gaul| |(Area| |of| |Sens,| |France),| |c.| |100| |-| |60| |B.C.||stater|
About 400 B.C. the Senones crossed the Alps and, having driven out the Umbrians, settled on the east coast of Italy from Forlì to Ancona (ager Gallicus), and founded Sena Gallica (Senigallia) their capital. In 391 B.C., they invaded Etruria and besieged Clusium. The Clusines appealed to Rome, which led to war. In 390 B.C. (or 387 B.C.), the Senones routed the Roman army at Allia and then sacked Rome. For more than 100 years the Senones were engaged in hostilities with Rome. They were finally subdued in 283 B.C. by P. Cornelius Dolabella and driven from Italy. In Gaul, from 53 to 51 B.C., the Senones engaged in hostilities with Julius Caesar, brought about by their expulsion of Cavarinus, whom he had appointed their king. In 51 B.C., a Senonian named Drappes threatened the Provincia, but was captured and starved himself to death. Their chief towns were Agedincum (later Senones, whence Sens), Metiosedum (Melun?), and Vellaunodunum (site uncertain).
SH75807. Gold stater, Globular cross type; Sills 532; Delestrée-Tache 2537; Scheers 15, pl. V, 128; Cottam ABC 94 (Carnutes?); De La Tour -, aVF, weight 7.221 g, maximum diameter 12.4 mm, Agedincum? (Sens, France) mint, c. 100 - 60 B.C.; obverse small cross in center of plain globule with prominent rim; reverse plain globule with prominent rim; ex Nomos AG, obolos 1, lot 28; ex Cologny Collection; SOLD


Belgic Celts in Britain, Atrebates, Verica, c. 10 - 43 A.D.

|Celtic| |&| |Tribal|, |Belgic| |Celts| |in| |Britain,| |Atrebates,| |Verica,| |c.| |10| |-| |43| |A.D.||quarter| |stater|
At the time of Caesar's invasion of Britain, the Atrebates, "the settlers," covered Sussex, Berkshire, west Surrey, parts of Hampshire, north-east Wiltshire.
SL86748. Gold quarter stater, Little Horse Rearing type; Bean VERC1-2, Cottam ABC 1199, Van Arsdell 466-1, Hobbs 1179, SCBC 124, NGC EF, strike 5/5, surface 3/5 (2400434-001), weight 1.19 g, maximum diameter 9.2 mm, die axis 225o, Calleva mint, c. 10 - 40 A.D.; obverse COM F in linear rectangle tablet, pellet in annulet above and below; reverse horse prancing right, VI above, exergual line below; ex Stephen Album auction 21 (15 Jan 2015), lot 1 (realized $900 plus fees); NGC| Lookup; SOLD


Celts, Boii in Bohemia, Devil, Mid 1st Century B.C.

|Celtic| |&| |Tribal|, |Celts,| |Boii| |in| |Bohemia,| |Devil,| |Mid| |1st| |Century| |B.C.||tetradrachm|
The Boii first appear in history in connection with the Gallic invasion of north Italy, 390 B.C., when they made the Etruscan city of Felsina their new capital, Bononia (Bologna). They were defeated by Rome at the Battle of Mutina in 193 and their territory became part of the Roman province of Cisalpine Gaul. According to Strabo, writing two centuries after the events, rather than being destroyed by the Romans like their Celtic neighbors, "the Boii were merely driven out of the regions they occupied; and after migrating to the regions round about the Ister, lived with the Taurisci, and carried on war against the Daci until they perished, tribe and all - and thus they left their country, which was a part of Illyria, to their neighbors as a pasture-ground for sheep." The new Boian capital was a fortified town on the site of modern Bratislava, Slovakia, which is where minted their silver coins. Around 60 B.C., a group of Boians joined the Helvetians' ill-fated attempt to conquer land in western Gaul and were defeated by Julius Caesar, along with their allies, in the battle of Bibracte. Caesar settled the remnants of that group in Gorgobina, from where they sent two thousand to Vercingetorix's aid at the battle of Alesia six years later. The eastern Boians on the Danube were incorporated into the Roman Empire in 8 A.D. Devil is presumably the name of a king.
SH56021. Silver tetradrachm, Lanz 76, Paulsen 782 ff., Forrer Keltische pl. XXXVIII, 550, De la Tour 10163, Allen-Nash -, F, weight 16.322 g, maximum diameter 25.9 mm, die axis 45o, Slovakia, Bratislava mint, obverse beardless male head right with short; reverse bear(?) walking right on ground line, DEVIL in exergue; scarce; SOLD


Celtic, Ambiani, North East Gaul, c. 58 - 55 B.C., Gallic War Issue

|Celtic| |&| |Tribal|, |Celtic,| |Ambiani,| |North| |East| |Gaul,| |c.| |58| |-| |55| |B.C.,| |Gallic| |War| |Issue||stater|
The Ambiani occupied the Somme valley in northern France. These uniface Gallic War staters were struck to fund the war against Julius Caesar in Gaul. The blank obverse is often ascribed to a need for speed in striking this emergency war coinage. There are, however, more than a few other similar uniface Celtic coin types and one blank side would do little to speed up the mint. More likely, they just found one plain side and one detailed side "nice enough." This type is often found in Britain, many of which may have been carried there by Celtic mercenaries retreating after Caesar's victories.
SH85134. Gold stater, Delestrée-Tache 241, Cottam ABC 16, Van Arsdell 52-1, Castelin 289, De la Tour 8710, SCBC 11, EF, scyphate, light scratches, weight 6.084 g, maximum diameter 17.4 mm, obverse plain bulge; reverse disjointed "Celticized" horse right, crescents and pellets around; ex Coins of Antiquity (Hillsborough, NC); SOLD


Eastern Celts, Audoleon Imitative, Honter type, 2nd Century B.C.

|Celtic| |&| |Tribal|, |Eastern| |Celts,| |Audoleon| |Imitative,| |Honter| |type,| |2nd| |Century| |B.C.||tetradrachm|
CE40505. Silver tetradrachm, Lanz 690, Göbl OTA 381/8, gVF, weight 13.580 g, maximum diameter 24.3 mm, die axis 225o, obverse laureate head of Zeus right; reverse rider trotting right, MT above, ΛΕ in front, Δ below, square countermark and test cut; SOLD


British Celts, N. Thames & Eastern Region, Trinovantes & Catuvellauni, Uninscribed "Essex Wheels" Type, c. 60 - 20 B.C.

|Celtic| |&| |Tribal|, |British| |Celts,| |N.| |Thames| |&| |Eastern| |Region,| |Trinovantes| |&| |Catuvellauni,| |Uninscribed| |"Essex| |Wheels"| |Type,| |c.| |60| |-| |20| |B.C.||quarter| |stater|
The strange story of how Van Arsdell 260 (V260) came to be used as a reference for our gold quarter stater of the Trinovantes & Catuvellauni (Celtic tribes from immediately north of the Thames River) begins with part I of "The Carlyon-Britton Collection of Coins," offered by Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge on 17 Nov 1913. Described under lot 28 were a group of "Silver Uninscribed" coins, the first attributed timidly to the Iceni. Its metrics and overall iconography fit our coin type like a glove. The silver unit found its way to the Fitzwilliam Museum where it was published in SCBI, under #97, for the Catuvellauni. Richard Mack would later list the coin under #76a in the 2nd edition of his book, but as an issue of the Atrebates (& associated tribes). He may have been influenced in doing so by two researchers who noted in 1958 that the coin resembled (at least superficially) the gold staters and quarter staters regularly found on the Sussex coast. Van Arsdell would next include the silver unit in his magnum opus published in 1989, under V260. To this day, the silver enigma is still possibly unique, but after the debut of Van Arsdell's book, gold versions (like our quarter stater) began popping up. They were deemed so similar to V260 that the latter issue has been regularly applied to the gold one by coin dealers and researchers alike! That said, there are no known die links between the two issues. Originally listed as very rare, 53 examples of the gold variety have been recorded by John Sills (in Sills DK) who believes they belong to the north-east Thames region, associating them with the Trinovantes & Catuvellauni.

An equally strange footnote to this story is the gold V260 specimen sold in lot 18 of the Carlyon-Britton sale. It, too, would later call the Fitzwilliam home and be published in their sylloge catalog (as #49). From then to now, it has slipped by mostly unnoticed by numismatists!
SH114566. Gold quarter stater, Sills DK 439; ABC 2231 corr. (Atrebates), Hobbs 485 & 496 corr. (same); SCBI I 49 (same); cf. Van Arsdell 260 (silver) corr. (same), Mack 76a (same), aVF, light marks, bold "onion" symbol and triskele, the latter rarely on flan, weight 1.365 g, maximum diameter 11.8 mm, die axis 315o, North Thames or Eastern British mint, c. 60 - 20 B.C.; obverse head of Apollo right, devolved into a pattern of a wreath, cloak, and crescents, with a wheel at top (obscured or off flan); reverse horse leaping right, onion-like motif above its triple tail, wheel between legs, triskele above forehead, and at least one pellet-in-annulet to right; ex CNG e-auction 536 (12 Apr 2023), lot 773; ex Trehearne Collection; scarce; SOLD


Celtic, Bastarnae(?), Imitative of Philip II of Macedonia, c. 200 - 50 B.C.

|Celtic| |&| |Tribal|, |Celtic,| |Bastarnae(?),| |Imitative| |of| |Philip| |II| |of| |Macedonia,| |c.| |200| |-| |50| |B.C.||tetradrachm|
The Bastarnae, an ancient tribe, probably of Germanic and Celtic origin, inhabited the region between the eastern Carpathian mountains and the Dnieper river (Moldova and south western Ukraine). A branch of the Bastarnae, called the Peucini by Greco-Roman writers, occupied the region north of the Danube river delta.

In 179 B.C. the Bastarnae crossed the Danube in massive force (probably c. 60,000 men, both cavalry and infantry, plus a wagon-train of women and children) at the invitation of their long-time ally, King Philip V of Macedon. Philip's loss to Rome in the Second Macedonian War had reduced him from a powerful monarch to a petty client-king with a much-reduced territory and a tiny army. His kingdom was devastated by incessant raiding by the Dardani, a warlike Thraco-Illyrian tribe on his northern border, which his treaty-limited army was too small to counter. The Bastarnae, with whom Philip had forged friendly relations in earlier times, agreed to crush the Dardani and to settle in Dardania (southern Kosovo), to ensure that the region was permanently subdued. After they were ambushed en route by Thracians, about half the Bastarnae returned home, leaving c. 30,000 to press on to Macedonia. Philip died before the Bastarnae arrived, but Philip's son and successor Perseus, deployed his guests in winter quarters in a valley in Dardania, presumably to a campaign against the Dardani the following summer. In the depths of winter the Dardani attacked. The Bastarnae beat off the attackers, chased them back to their chief town, and besieged them. It was a trap. A second force of Dardani ambushed from the rear. After losing all their baggage and supplies, the Bastarnae were forced to retreat home. Most perished as they crossed the frozen Danube on foot, falling through the ice.
CE48221. Silver tetradrachm, Apparently unpublished; tentatively attributed to the Bastarnae by Dr. Ilya Prokopov, VF, weight 12.752 g, maximum diameter 24.4 mm, die axis 225o, obverse bearded head of Zeus right; reverse horseman riding right, star before, symbols below; SOLD




  




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REFERENCES

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Allen, D. The Coins of the Ancient Celts. (Edinburgh, 1980).
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