Featured Snakebit: Celtic quinarius, "Little Dancing Man"

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by TIF, Nov 30, 2014.

  1. TIF

    TIF Always learning.

    This is my second ancient Celtic purchase. Admittedly, I know very little about Celtic coins. There are a half dozen on my hit list though. Since I first saw this type posted by @Eduard on 10/26/13 ("I like Roman coins, but I think like these even better: Celtic") this Celtic was at the top of the list. "Little Dancing Man" quinarii don't come up with great frequency and tend to be pricey. Recently there were two at auction which I hoped would stay within reach. This one did :)

    CelticDancingManReshoot.jpg

    CELTIC, Central Europe (Rhineland). "Dancing Mannikin" type
    65 BCE - CE 1

    AR Quinarius, 13 mm, 1.62 gm
    Obv: dancing mannikin right, head turned left, holding snake in right hand, torque in left hand.
    Rev: horse standing right, head turned left; around, zig zag border.
    Ref: SLM 1118. Dembski 73, 396. (I'll have to take the seller's word on that for now. If any of you have a Celtic reference and find this inaccurate, please let me know.)

    It's not the peak of numismatic artistry but it does have a very appealing quality: it makes me laugh. Seriously. What the heck is this scene about? A marionette dancing with a snake, which is biting his nose? Even the horse looks shocked. I'm not though. "He who dances with snake gets bit on nose", everyone knows that. :D

    CelticDancingManPair.gif
    The base coin in this animated gif is the other coin I considered (from Nomos 9)

    Online references for Celtic coins aren't as plentiful as for Greeks and Romans. I haven't found much about the type. fall into two types, an earlier scarcer type and a later one with "larger features". I don't know which mine is, probably the latter.

    Here's the most comprehensive information I've found about the coin-- and it isn't much. Coin use in a dynamic frontier region. Late Iron Age coinages in the Lower Rhine area; from Journal of Archaeology in the Low Countries 1-1 (May 2009), Nico Roymans, Joris Aarts, and AUP:

    Another long-running coin series are the quinarii of the Scheers 57 type, with a figure of a 'dancing man' on the obverse and a horse on the reverse. Schulze-Forster and Heinrichs have recently discussed the development of this group. It began and a trans-Rhine issue, with the oppidum on the Dünsberg in Hessen as the probable minting center. A more recent group consists of silver with a high copper content and is concentrated in the western Lower Rhine region, where it also appears to have been minted. Circulation was concentrated in the Cologne hinterland, and to a lesser extent in the Dutch river region. Partly on the basis of the dating of these coin issues, the cluster in the Cologne region may be associated with the Ubii. There is a plausible link to historical accounts of Ubian migration from the east to the west bank of the Rhine during Agrippa's first or second governship (38/39 or 19/18 BC). There are too few coins from the Dutch River region for the Batavi to have played any role in the more recent issues of the series. Schulze-Forster dates the quinarii of the younger group to after 30 BC. Their presence in Augustan army camps suggests that these coins continued to circulate until about 10 AD, although their production would have ceased somewhat earlier.

    These "little dancing man" coins have been found in this approximate geographic distribution:

    ApproximateGeographicDistributionOfDancingMan.jpg

    While there are many interesting questions to be answered about this Celtic coin, the most fascinating is the iconography. What is it about? Is it serious, perhaps a shaman charming a snake? Is it poking fun at a foe? So many Celtic coins look cartoonish. This type certainly does.

    CelticHorseToon4Panel.jpg

    Please post your Celtic coins or any cartoonish coins :)
     
    Last edited: Nov 30, 2014
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  3. John Anthony

    John Anthony Ultracrepidarian

    It's a super coin! I think these types are iconic among Celtics, in the same way owls are iconic among Athenians. Puppetry is an ancient art form - archeological evidence for it goes back to 2000 BC in Egypt. I'm actually surprised that we don't see more puppets on coins or frescoes. If you think about it, human beings have always had a fascination with the difference between the animate and inanimate. Isn't all of our technology, in one way or another, a form of making the inanimate animate?
     
  4. TIF

    TIF Always learning.

    I didn't know that!

    It reminds me of one of my favorite superweird movies, Being John Malkovich. Did you see that? Wasn't it fantastic?!

     
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  5. Bing

    Bing Illegitimi non carborundum Supporter

    Nice coin. It's funny. I've been looking at Celtic coins here of late, but they can get pricey.
     
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  6. John Anthony

    John Anthony Ultracrepidarian

    Wikipedia's article on the history of puppetry is quite good, with some fascinating pics. My favorite are the creepy 4th/5th-century BC Greek terracotta dolls.

    puppets.jpg
     
  7. TIF

    TIF Always learning.

    I am always surprised by the relatively high prices since I don't know many people who collect Celtic coins.
     
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  8. Bing

    Bing Illegitimi non carborundum Supporter

    Agree. I've actually been watching for one with a reverse of the dotted horse that is slightly different from the horse on your coin. And, like you, I know very little about them other than I like them. I think the ones I've been looking at are Danubian Celts.
     
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  9. Eng

    Eng Senior Eng

    Awesome TIF, i love how your coins come alive ;).when they say the details jump right off the coin, yours do..very cool...
     
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  10. stevex6

    stevex6 Random Mayhem

    Wow => that's fantastic lookin' celtic coin, princess (very cool)

    ... I have two Celtic coins, yet neither of them are nearly as sweet as your lil' dancing dude ...


    Celtic Gaul, Senones AE Cast Potin
    100-50 BC
    Celtic head & Celtic horse with pellets

    Celtic Gaul AE Potin.JPG


    Macedonian Under Philip V & Perseus (Celtic?)
    187-168 BC
    Strymon & Trident

    geek7.jpg geek2.jpg

    => oh, and the green is hard and crusty, not soft and fluffy (*phew*)

     
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  11. zumbly

    zumbly Ha'ina 'ia mai ana ka puana

    Fantastic and cute little coin! Made even better by the writeup, pics, map and humour :).

    I agree about the prices of Celtic coins too... they should be cheaper so more of us can buy some.
     
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  12. JBGood

    JBGood Collector of coinage Supporter

    Looks neolithic to me. Cave painting-ish. Would make a great tattoo.
     
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  13. randygeki

    randygeki Coin Collector

    Some of the Celtic coins are really neat, like this one. Great addition!
     
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  14. TIF

    TIF Always learning.

    No one else has any Celtic coins to share? :(
     
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  15. chrsmat71

    chrsmat71 I LIKE TURTLES!

    [​IMG]


    OH MAN, how awesome is that little guy and horse? i love the style of these. i never occurred to me that they actually could be puppets. the cetlic coins always have some pretty abstract stuff going on...so who knows...but what in interesting thought.

    here's my only celtic coin, reverse is blank.

    [​IMG]

    i do have a couple of iberian celtic coins..but they seem more greekish to me than celticish.
     
  16. stevex6

    stevex6 Random Mayhem

    A-Noob has an awesome Celtic coin ... I'm hoping that he'll post it (I was out-bid on a similar example)

    => c'mon A-Noob!!

    :woot:
     
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  17. AncientJoe

    AncientJoe Well-Known Member

    Fantastic coin! I love the animated GIF and your write up, as always. There is another example coming up in the next Triton sale and I may need to chase after it as my collection is utterly devoid of anything Celtic.
     
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  18. Vinnford Sansbury

    Vinnford Sansbury New Member

    Hello. I have a radically different theory about so called dancing man. I believe this is actually a spear thrower and the imagery of the coin may have even lent to the legends of Finn McCool who famously stabbed himself in the face with a spear on purpose to stay awake. Let's assume the snake is a spear, the other hand is a spear sling, and the tail thingy is a torc tied to his side. Imagine instead of dancing, he is winding up to launch a spear. Just a thought.
     
  19. Valentinian

    Valentinian Well-Known Member

    I bought this one in 1974 and have loved it since. But, it didn't cause me to buy more. I bought a few books on Celtic coins, but I didn't buy more coins.

    SG110Celtic7402.jpg
    24-21 mm.
    Coriosolatae (a Celtic tribe) 75-50 BC.
    According to John Hooker it was minted by Viridovix of the Unelli during the early months of 56 BC. It is his Series Z, design group O.
    De la Tour 6598. Traité Celtique page 116, Type II.
    Sear Greek 110.
     
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  20. jamesicus

    jamesicus Well-Known Member

    Great coin and wonderful depiction/presentation of it (as usual) TIF! Your animated GIF is very funny - but at the same time very instructional..

    I have recently posted this elsewhere but I would like to post it here also:

    [​IMG]
    British Celtic silver coin, minted by the Corieltavi tribe
    ABC 1938; Van Arsdell 914, 15.27 mm, .99 gram, 15-40 AD

    Obverse depiction: none (plain surface).

    Reverse depiction: stylized horse galloping left.
    Inscription: AVN above, [CO] below (Aun Cost - Corieltavi king)

    Provenance: Ex. Chris Rudd List 101 (September 2008), lot 40.

    Cataloged in the British Museum collection:
    https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1991-1110-138

    This coin is contemporaneous with the Queen of the Brigantes, Cartimandua, and her association with the conquest of Britain by Claudius. It could possibly have been used by her tribe who did not mint their own coins but who were close allies with the Corieltavi tribe.

    Background information: The Time Travellers (UK) Brigantes study group:
    http://www.thetimetravellers.org.uk/brigantes-group.html

    I am beginning to submit to the allure of (British) Celtic coins - but it does seem that Celtic coins can get pricey, as Bing said (also TIF earlier).
     
    Last edited: Aug 30, 2020
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  21. Alex22

    Alex22 Active Member

    This dancing mannikin also reminds me of bees on some of the coin obverses. So, here is another theory: what if that coin was Celts' way to have a good laugh at this (or lookalikes, an example below is from http://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=5571655)?

    bee_coin.png
     
    Last edited: Aug 30, 2020
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