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Sale 137
Pre-Long Beach Auction
| Celtic Central Europe & Asia Minor |
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Photo |
Description |
Realized |
Lot 1033 |
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Middle Danube, Uncertain tribe. Imitating Philip II of Macedonia. Silver Tetradrachm (12.04 g), 2nd century BC. "Reiterstumpf or Kroisbach" type. Celticized diademed and beardless head right, with "boxer's" nose. Reverse: Cantering horse left, torso and head of male rider at back, his hair bound with a diadem and tied into a topknot; below, a hobble forms a ground line. W. Kubischek, "Ein Fund keltischer Munzen aus Kroisbach," NZ 43 (1910), pl. 5, 2 (same dies); Lanz 743; KMW 1391; CCCBM I 154; OTA 469; Money of the World 21 (this coin). Boldly struck and lustrous. A magnificent Celtic issue. NGC grade Ch AU; Strike: 5/5, Surface: 3/5. Fine style. Estimated Value $5,000 - UP
The coinage struck by the Celts is as varied as there were tribes. This spectacular tetradrachm struck by the Celtic tribes residing along the middle Danube region copies the coins of the Macedonian king, Philip II, who ruled from 359-336 BC, and was the father of Alexander the Great. The imagery of Philip's coinage can be seen copied as far west as northern France, with perhaps the most recognizable coins being the gold staters and its divisions that were struck by the Parisii in the region of modern France around Paris. However, the western style is quite different from this coin, with its very bold and masculine portrait showing diademed head to the right, which copies the laureate head of Zeus on the originals struck by Philip II. Likewise the reverse depicts a horse prancing to the left, carrying a seemingly legless horseman with long, flowing locks. The strike is impeccable and austere, and overall the coin is quite harmonious and expressive of the ancient artist's high-degree of talent, sufficiently so that it was used for illustrative purposes in the award-winning reference, Money of the World: Coins That Made History, published in 2007 by Whitman Publishing, LLC.
Ex Millennia Collection (Goldberg Auction 46, 26 May 2008), Lot 1.
View details and enlarged photos
Realized
$8,700 |
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