Nomos 37

LOWER DANUBE REGION. Imitation of Thasos. Late 2nd-1st century BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 32 mm, 16.36 g, 12 h), imitating issues of the Thasos mint. Highly stylized head of a youthful Dionysos to right, with what might be termed a Habsburg jaw. Rev. Herakles, in the form of a stick figure, standing facing, holding a club in his right hand and with a "cloak" over his left arm; around, a "legend" composed of four rows of pellets to left and right, and a single row below . OTA -. Lanz - (but cf. 989-990). Toned, and a particularly amusing example of the degeneration of coin types. Good very fine.

From the Apollo to Apollo Collection, acquired on 1 September 2013 at the Arles Coin Fair.

The way the Celts and other European tribal groups used Greek coin types as models, but then changed them in sometimes bizarre ways, is often wrongly explained as a sign of artistic primitiveness. However, this is certainly not the case. It simply reflects their own artistic and symbolic traditions, which are different from 'our' own (in the same way that African, American and Pacific tribal art, all based on indigenous beliefs and concepts, were contemptuously termed 'primitive' by those who did not understand them). Thus, the types on this coin were actually made deliberately, rather than being the result of mindless copying. In fact, recent research suggests that the striking of coins by the Celts, the ancient British, and other ancient peoples, other than the Greeks and Romans and those very strongly influenced by them, had a highly ritualistic nature. Ancient sources tell us that prior to the beginning of the minting process, the ancient die engravers would drink copious amounts of what is now known as poitín or poteen, thus, providing them with visions that they then tried to engrave. Looking at the surviving coins makes this theory seem highly likely.