Obolos 20

KINGS OF MACEDON. Antigonos II Gonatas, 277/6-239 BC. (Bronze, 16 mm, 2.70 g, 3 h), possibly a Celtic imitation, copying an uncertain Macedonian mint. Head of Herakles to right, wearing lion' skin headdress. Rev. B-A Youth on horseback right, extending arm; below horse, monogram of ANT. Cf. SNG Alpha Bank 990-1000. Well centered and quite attractive for these. Very fine.

From a European collection, ex Künker 318, 11 March 2019, 120 & Rauch 91, 6 December 2012, 24 pr 320€.

During the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, central and eastern Europe were unsettled, perhaps due to climate events. The Celtic peoples who lived there began pushing south. Rome was sacked in 390, and by the early 3rd century, the Celtic tribes were pushing into Greece and Asia Minor. Delphi was attacked in 279, as was Lysimachia two years later. Justinus records that Antigonos Gonatas annihilated the Celtic army using an army of "elephants, furies, and ghosts' (Justinus 26:2).