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1/3 Stater Muschel Type
| Issuer | Boii |
|---|---|
| Year | 200 BC - 1 BC |
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| Currency | Drachm |
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| Obverse description | Plain, deeply concave field with no design elements or inscriptions, characteristic of the Muschel (shell) type coinage of the Boii tribe. The flan is irregularly shaped, with a smooth, slightly convex rim forming a natural scalloped edge typical of Celtic hammered gold coinage. The surface bears the natural flow lines and tool marks consistent with hand-struck production. The entire field is devoid of figural or symbolic imagery, presenting a purely abstract, bowl-like concavity. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Convex field bearing a highly stylised, abstracted zoomorphic motif characteristic of late Celtic La Tène artistic tradition, interpreted as a schematic animal figure — possibly a horse or boar — rendered in bold, deeply struck relief. The design is executed in the degenerate, abstract manner typical of Boii tribal coinage, with angular forms suggesting a body and limbs reduced to geometric masses. The irregular flan edges and variable strike create an asymmetrical composition, with the central motif occupying the majority of the field. No legend or inscription is present. |
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| Additional information |
The Boii were among the most powerful Celtic tribes of Central Europe, controlling territories across what is now Bohemia — a name derived directly from their own. Their gold coinage was struck not for state administration in any Roman sense, but to pay warriors, settle obligations, and move wealth laterally through a tribal economy. By the later issues of this series, the tribe was already under severe pressure: the Marcomanni drove them from Bohemia around 50 BC, scattering survivors westward and south into the Po Valley.
Kostial 55 places this fractional within the Muschel typology, a classification built on the distinctive shell-like surface treatment characteristic of this die group.