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Tetradrachm Sattelkopfpferd Type
| Issuer | Dacians of Muntenia |
|---|---|
| Year | 300 BC - 100 BC |
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| Currency | Drachm |
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| Obverse description | Highly stylized and abstracted Celtic derivation of a male head, facing right, rendered in the La Tène artistic tradition. The hair is depicted as a fan of bold, pointed strokes radiating above the crown, while the facial features are reduced to a prominent serpentine curve representing the jaw and chin. A diagonal bar element crosses the upper field, accompanied by a cluster of raised pellets to the right, serving as decorative adjuncts typical of this Dacian coinage series. The entire design reflects the progressive barbarization of the Macedonian prototype, with naturalistic forms dissolved into dynamic, abstract linear motifs. No legend or inscription is present. |
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| Mintage | ND (300 BC - 100 BC) |
| Additional information |
Dacian silver coinage of this period derives ultimately from the Macedonian tetradrachms of Philip II, which flooded the Balkans following his campaigns in the mid-4th century BC. Over generations of local copying, the original types degraded through successive die-to-die imitation into increasingly abstracted forms — the "Sattelkopfpferd," or saddle-headed horse, being one of the most visually extreme evolutionary endpoints of that process. The Muntenian series in particular shows pronounced stylistic drift from neighboring Dacian groups, suggesting mint isolation or deliberate local convention rather than shared die production.