Potin coin
Potin coins are coins made from potin , a bronze alloy. A relatively high proportion of tin was used in the potin coins. In contrast to the usual coin production, they were not minted but cast .
history
Potin coins were used from around 150 BC. Used and put into circulation by the Celts until the turn of the century .
A previously unique find was made on July 3, 1890 in an excavation near the former stock exchange building on Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich . At a depth of 5.5 meters, several lumps of metal came to light during construction work, the largest of which weighs 59.2 kg. The chunks that are kept in the Swiss National Museum today consist of around 18,000 fused Celtic coins that are mixed with pieces of charcoal and date back to around 100 BC. To be dated. Two types of coins are distinguished in this find: Potin coins of the so-called Zurich type , which are assigned to the native Helvetians , and potin coins of the Sequaner, who live in eastern France .
See also
literature
- Michael Nick: One and a half quintals of Celtic change - new research on the “potin lump” of Zurich . In: Swiss Numismatic Rundschau 83, 2004, ISSN 0035-4163 , pp. 97–117.
Web links
- Website Explorate: Potin Coins ( Memento from April 1, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Information sheet on Celtic Money in Zurich: The spectacular “Potin Lump” . Office for Urban Development of the City of Zurich, Urban Archeology (Ed.). Zurich, October 2007.