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Drachm with boar VIIRIA / BIRACOS
| Issuer | Ruteni |
|---|---|
| Year | 75 BC - 25 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Drachm |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Highly stylized and schematized Celtic head facing left, rendered in a distinctly abstract La Tène artistic style. The facial features are reduced to bold, curvilinear forms, with a prominent eye and simplified profile. The legend VIIRIA appears in the left field, inscribed in Latin characters. The flan is irregular in shape, characteristic of hand-struck Gaulish silver coinage of this period. |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | A standing boar facing left, depicted in a schematic Celtic style with exaggerated bristles and sturdy limbs. The animal is rendered with characteristic La Tène artistic conventions, conveying vigor within a compact design. A dotted border or beaded exergual line frames part of the composition. The legend BIRACOS appears above the boar in the field, inscribed in Latin characters. The irregular flan and bold relief typify the hand-struck silver coinage attributed to the Ruteni tribe of southern Gaul. |
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| Additional information |
The Ruteni occupied the territory around modern Rodez in southern Gaul, and their silver issues were struck during the decades of intensifying Roman pressure that culminated in the Gallic Wars. The BIRACOS inscription likely identifies a magistrate or issuing authority — a rare instance of personal naming on a Gaulish regional coinage, and one that has made die-linking studies for this type unusually productive.