Celtic coinage
The Celtic coinage denotes the coinage of the Celts in the period from approx. 300 BC. Until the turn of the ages . The most important sources when researching the Celts are archaeological finds, especially coins, due to the lack of their own literature. The Celtic coins form an independent sub-area of numismatics .
The development
The first Celtic coins can be traced back to around 300 BC. To date. However, since there are no embossed dates or similar markings on these, such a date must be based on other objects in the same find. Trade with the Greeks played an important role in the development of Celtic coins . Cities such as the Greek colonial city of Massalia developed into lively trading domains in Gaul over the centuries . But it was precisely here that the barter trade, which was widespread in Gaul, ran into more and more problems, as coinage had already established itself in the Greek sphere of influence. In addition, the salaries of Gallic mercenaries stationed in Greece or Rome were paid out in coins. Presumably motivated by these circumstances, the Celts adopted coins as a means of payment. Who initiated the Celtic coins can only be guessed because of a lack of sources. Since we encounter the names of the tribal princes, which we know from Caesar's Commentarii , in whole or in abbreviations on the tetradrachms (also called quarter staters), it can be assumed that the princes are also a kind of minting masters.
Temporal and regional differences
Coin metals used
Systematic evaluations of grave finds have shown that different metals were used in Celtic coinage over time. In contrast to the Greek or Roman coins, the first Celtic coins were made of gold . These gold coins were used until the middle of the 1st century BC. BC and initially served only the exchange of information and as treasure money. From the middle of the 2nd century BC Until the Roman conquest of Gaul , silver coins were also minted. At the latest at the beginning of the 1st century BC. At least the western (Gallic) oppida culture switched to minting coins made of gold, silver and bronze . The typical alloy of copper and tin is known as "Celtic coin bronze". The French language knows the name Potin for this and differentiates between “Potin gris” and “Potin jaune”. The Celtic coins do not form a uniform system of coins. In the East Celtic region and the Mediterranean, silver dominated as a coin metal, while gold in the west.
Stylistic differences
Celtic tribes that immigrated to Spain in the 9th century BC lived from around 200 BC. In the Roman provinces of Hispania citerior and Hispania ulterior . Since then, the cities began to mint their own coins, which were often influenced by Greek and Roman models. Therefore, the embossed in northern Spain Celtic Coins oriented in the denominations (especially denarii and aces ) and in the design very similar to the models of the Roman Republic and early Empire. Even if the silver denarii with a bearded male head on the portrait side only roughly resemble the helmeted Roma head of the republican denarii, the rider with an inlaid lance shown on the reverse is very similar to the Dioscuri of the republican denarii, also shown . The bronze aces also resemble the Roman models with the design of the portrait and the Latin lettering. This applies in particular to coins that were minted in cities with the status of municipium (e.g. Gades ) and that bore the portrait of Augustus or later Tiberius .
Different influences can be seen in Gaul. The city of Massalia , founded by the Greeks, minted drachmas and obols with the bust of Artemis and thus followed the models of Greece. The coins of the Roman colonies Nemausus (today Nimes ) or the provincial capital Lugdunum belonged to the Roman coin system. In contrast, the coins of the Gallic tribes before the Roman occupation were given their own style with a strong stylization (mostly heads and horses). The Gallo-Belgian tribe had emigrated to Britain. A 40–20 BC The coin minted in BC shows a galloping horse over an eight-spoke wheel.
The most famous gold coins of Celtic coinage, the so-called rainbow bowls in the southern Germanic settlement area, mostly with a half-wreath or a bird's head on the front and balls, occasionally in a torc , on the back , also showed a high degree of stylization . Silver cinars were also minted, which often show stylized tufts and horses or the "dancing little man". A coin find from Duderstadt near Göttingen consists of a bowl-shaped gold coin depicting a Remer stater.
In northern Italy, as in Massalia, Greek drachms were imitated, while the so-called Eastern Celts took drachms and tetradrachms from Philip II , his son Alexander the Great and the island of Thasos as models.
Roughly summarized, Western Celtic coins followed either Roman or Greek models with little or no stylization. East Celtic coins followed Hellenistic models with considerable stylization. The coins of the Gallic tribes before the Roman occupation and those in southern Germany are designed in a purely Celtic style. Basically, the level of abstraction in Celtic coins has increased over time. That means: the more abstract the coin image shown, the more likely it is that the coin is more recent.
Embossing technology
The minting of coins was technically based on other cultures. Initially, coin blanks, so-called planets , were produced. For this purpose, clay tablets with small hollows, the stippling plates, were fitted with precisely weighed amounts of metal, around which a charcoal fire was stoked. Once the metal had melted it was allowed to cool. When the flans had cooled down, they were minted with a coin die and a hammer ( hammer stamping ). The mint stamp consisted of a bronze core that carried the motif and an iron ring that kept the bronze core from cracking. There was often a pin on the back that could connect the stamp to a work sheet. In addition to the coin die, other tools were also required. In order to recut a worn stamp, the stamp cutter needed graver , files and pliers. Casting crucibles, bellows and precision scales were also required.
symbolism
Some researchers are of the opinion that a Celtic symbolism is coded in the coin images, similar to the way certain contents are represented in the coins of the Mediterranean region. The limits of the scientific and numismatic interpretation are very narrow. Proponents of the "symbolism theory" expand this limit considerably and often leave the area of reliable knowledge. The following is advocated by the proponents of the "symbolism theory": In the course of time, the original motifs of the coins changed beyond recognition and were partially replaced by their own. Even in early reprints, the coin images were dominated by Celtic symbolism. In contrast to the coins of other cultures, the Celts do not depict bodies, but ghosts. The coins were not only used as a means of payment, but were above all carriers of mystical and religious symbols. The most common symbol is the circle or sphere. This symbol corresponds to the serpent egg mentioned by Pliny the Elder . It stands for fertility and the 1 in the Celtic number symbolism. Since all other numbers can be represented by the 1, it also stands for the entirety of Celtic mysticism. Two hemispheres as well as the almond and sickle shape symbolize the moon, fertility and the feminine. Three spheres represent the sun, some of them also represented by a wheel or a triskele .
literature
- Gisela Förschner, The coins of the Celts exhibition of the holdings of the Münzkabinett , Kleine Schriften des Historisches Museum Frankfurt am Main, Volume 18, ISBN 3-87280-019-1
- Andres Furger, Felix Müller (ed.): Gold of the Helvetians - Celtic treasures from Switzerland . Swiss National Museum, Zurich 1991, (exhibition catalog, Swiss National Museum, February 16 to May 12, 1991).
- Hans-Jörg Kellner : The research situation on the coinage of the Celts . In: Karl Horst Schmidt (Hrsg.): Geschichte und Kultur der Kelten = History and culture of the Celts . Winter, Heidelberg 1986, ISBN 3-533-03643-X .
- Lancelot Lengyel: The Secret Knowledge of the Celts. Unraveled from Druidic-Celtic myth and symbolism . Bauer, Freiburg 1976, ISBN 3-7626-0200-X .
- Karl Pink: Introduction to Celtic Coin Studies. With special consideration of the Austrian area . 3rd revised and expanded edition. Edited by Robert Göbl . Deuticke, Vienna 1974, ISBN 3-7005-4399-9 .
- Hans Reeh: The symbolism of Celtic coins. ( online ; PDF; 4.4 MB)
See also
Web link
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kellner, p. 219.
- ↑ See Kellner, p. 233.
- ↑ s. bronze
- ^ Gisela Förschner, The Coins of the Celts, Small Writings of the Historisches Museum Frankfurt am Main, Volume 18, p. 14
- ↑ Florian Haymann, Collecting Ancient Coins, Battenberg Verlag 2016, p. 129
- ^ Furger & Müller, p. 87.
- ↑ Lengyel, p. 38 ff.
- ↑ Lengyel, pp. 60 ff.
- ↑ Lengyel, p. 66 ff.