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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;scottishmoney, post: 1545803, member: 12789&quot;]<font face="arial">There are some ancients that just go against the grain of what we perceive as &quot;normal&quot; on coinage take for instance this:</font></p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://www.scottishmoney.net/blacksea/bosporus.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>This is a 40 nummiae of King Sauromates from the Bosporus Kingdom - looks like a run of the mill coin until you read the legend with the king&#039;s name on the obverse - it reads from 6&#039;00 counterclockwise.&nbsp; There are not very many coins that have counterclockwise legends on them - at least with Greek/Roman lettering.&nbsp; The Bosporus Kingdom was a client state of the Roman Empire in what is now S. Ukraine.</p><p><br /></p><p>Then there are the Celts.&nbsp; They produced coins with fantastic and very evocative designs with an amazing artistic flare that is distinctive:</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://www.scottishmoney.net/celtic/galliabelgicapotin.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><font face="arial"><span style="color: #000000">Gallia Belgica (from the Seine to the Rhine), the Remi. Cast Potin (4.13 gm, 12h, 21mm), ca. 100-60 BC. Obv.: Male figure (druid?) with hair in a long plait, running right, holding spear and torc. Rev.: Wolf (?), right, gnawing on prey; above, fibula. BMC 501 ff. DLT 8124. DT 155. Scheers 191. This is a cute coin in my opinion. One aspect of Celtic coins that is quite fascinating is their stylised imagery. This mysterious piece is a popular one because of the man on the obverse of the piece and his resemblance to a Gnome.</span></font></p><p><font face="arial"><span style="color: #000000"><br /></span></font></p><p><font face="arial"><span style="color: #000000"><br /></span></font></p><p><font face="arial"><span style="color: #000000">The Celts resided in much of Europe, from the British Isles to the mouth of the Danube River in what is now Romania. Their vibrant culture, celebrated in myth and legend, remains a bit of an enigma to this day. For coin designs they often &quot;borrowed&quot; designs from nearby Greek or Roman states coins, but their own designs were often stylised and quite attractive.</span></font>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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