AJOUTER BANDEAU LIVE 1066 + Image Bga_817624
In the next Live Auction ending on the 6th of September 2023, we are presenting a gold stater imitated from Philip II of Macedonia, the originals of which were minted mainly in Macedonia between 356 and 294 BC, but not exclusively. Initially classed as coming from eastern Gaul, this coin is actually thought to have come from the north!
This stater retains a significant demonetisation mark that affects a large part of the specimen. This coin reminded us of another, offered in MONNAIES XXIII, no. 816 in 2004, which sold for €1,370 on an estimate of €750/1,200, with a maximum bid of €1,800 and five bids in total. This example, VF/F, weighing 8.23 g, with a diameter of 21.5 mm and a die axis at 6 o'clock, had a good mintage and ideal centring, but had received a chisel blow on the right-hand side, which resulted in a crushed part on the reverse, under the horse.
Since that date and until today, we have not had the opportunity to propose any new specimens for sale. Our coin, in addition to having an identical demonetisation mark, has the particularity of appearing to be completely new and unrecorded for the gold stater and could only be compared with a series of gold hemistaters, already recorded by S. Scheers in 1977 in Traité II, Gaule Belgique (Scheers/ GB n° 77, series 6).
Our type, struck at the end of the 3rd century BC, shows a "homotypy of contiguity", dear to Jean-Baptiste Colbert-de-Beaulieu, with the "flower" type from the series 6 variety 1 by Louis-Pol Delestrée and Marcel Tache (DT I, p. 34, no. 30, pl. II), particularly in the already stylised face of Apollo with a rounded cheek and small upturned lips.
Our example, weighing 8.28 g, with a diameter of 20 mm and a die axis at six o'clock, shows a laurelled head on the right, with curly hair, while on the reverse, with a pseudo-legend in the exergue, we have the traditional bige on the right, led by an charioteer on an exergue line and the characteristic symbol of the series, a pearled circle (?) under the horse, which may also suggest the sun or even a star.
This early type, still of good weight in relation to the theoretical standard (8.60 g for the gold stater), does not seem so far removed from the prototypes discovered in Gaul and highlighted by Sylvia Nieto-Pelletier and Julien Olivier in a recent article in the Revue Numismatique, "Les Statères aux types de Philippe de Macédoine: de l'Égée à la Gaule, des originaux aux imitations", RN, 2016, 173rd volume, pp. 171-229.
Despite a chisel blow that disfigured the back of the face and obliterated a part of the reverse, this is a fine coin on a thick, centred blank, a little short but both sides are complete. The head on the right is magnificent with regular wear. The reverse is rougher but retains fine details (VF quality). The starting price is 2000 euros with an estimate of 5000 euros. This denomination appears to be unique for the moment, with only a hemistater being used to link it to the Northern group determined by the authors of the Nouvel Atlas des monnaies gauloises.
This is a particular gold stater with a flower on the reverse, characteristic of series 6 (DT 30 to 34 and DT IV S30A) and very close to variety 1 (DT 30, pl. II) and variety 2 (DT 31, pl. II). The demonetisation mark is identical to the one found on the gold stater proposed in MONNAIES XXIII, no. 816..
In the commentary accompanying this specimen, we pointed out that staters of this type were thought to come from the territory of the Carnutes; the notch was supposed to be linked to druidic activity. The deep forest in their territory was in fact the annual meeting place for the druids of the various Celtic peoples of Gaul, who held their meetings there in a consecrated place on a fixed date. Several examples, all of which had been chiselled, appeared on the market in the early 1980s, including the one now kept in the Musée Bargoin in Clermont-Ferrand. However, this statement dating from 2005 might need to be amended and supplemented, as the attribution remains uncertain. However, examples with this type of demonetisation mark are still rare!
Viviane Béclin and Laurent Schmitt
