... but this one looked cool and the price was right: Carpathian Celts. c.3rd-1st century BC. AR reduced tetradrachm. Imitation of Philip II tetradrachm. Obverse: Stylized head of "Philip" right. Reverse: Stylized horse and rider (rider is reduced to a series of pellets), "Schnabelpferd" (beak-head) type. This coin: eBay, June 2022. The various Celtic people of Europe issued many coins in the first few centuries BC. Many of the designs were copied from coins received in trade from surrounding peoples, and the tetradrachms of Philip II of Macedon were an important trade coinage and thus extensively copied. Many of the earlier copies were fairly close to the original design, but over time the engravers tended toward more abstract forms only loosely based on the originals. I like the style on this type, especially the obverse portrait. No-one would confuse it for the original macedonian type, but it is still clearly a human face, rendered in an abstract style that I find attractive. I'm not as excited by the horse, which has too small a head, and the hooves have turned into lobster claws, but overall it's still a pleasant coin, and the $27 price was well worth it. Please post your Celtic coins, or whatever else is related.
LOWER DANUBE CELTS AR Drachm OBVERSE: Stylized head of Herakles with wild hair, right REVERSE: Stylized Zeus seated left holding an eagle, kantharus to left Struck by the Lower Danube Celts, 2d-1st Century BC 2.9g, 20mm, CCCBM I 217, Kostial 896 ex JAZ Numismatics
