Hoard of weird Celtic scyphate gold coins found in Germany

"Together with the state archaeologist Prof Dr Franz Schopper, the numismatist Marjanko Pilekic and the finder and volunteer archaeologist Wolfgang Herkt, the Minister for Culture Dr Manja Schüle presented the largest hoard of Celtic gold coins found in the state of Brandenburg on 13 December 2021 in Potsdam."

The weird thing is the Celts never lived in Brandenburg, and the 41 gold coins are well over 2,000 years old. The discovery indicates that the culture who hoarded the coins was of supra-regional importance and had a long-distance network.





Read more here and here.

 

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R.C., thanks for posting this interesting article . Celtic coins with only one side uniface are not unusual but both sides being uniface are unusual. I'm disappointed the German "experts" didn't supply more information about the coins, like size & weight of the coins or hypothesize who made them . They might be early coins of the Ambiani Tribe from Northeast Gaul, who did strike many one-sided uniface coins like the one pictured below.


CELTIC, Northeast Gaul, Circa 60-30 BC. AV Stater: 6.29 gm, 18 mm, 6 h.
Photo courtesy of Leu Numismatik AG

 

The question would seem to be whether they are really imported Celtic (La Tène) 'rainbow cups' or locally-produced cup-shaped ingots, imitating the basic form of the 'rainbow cups'. I say "ingots" because lacking any seal of authority, they should not be considered 'coins' in the strict sense. Although Celtic settlements may not be found, there is some academic discussion of La Tène cultural influence in the region. Interesting stuff!

 

The very much remind me of my golden shield boss mount:


Bronze Age Gold domed boss mount.
2nd millennium BC
A sheet gold domed mount with attachment loop to the underside. 2.39 ge, 28mm (1”) Fine condition. Ex: Timeline 11/20

 

..that is strange ..maybe they were blanks that hadn't been struck yet at the time of their hiding..