Ancient Greece - 300-201 BCE Celts in Eastern Europe AR Tetradrachm NGC XF★

CELTIC. EASTERN EUROPEAN CELTS. Silver tetradrachm, circa 3rd century BCE. 17.06 grams. NGC XF★. Strike 5/5, Surface 5/5. Struck in the name and types of Alexander III 'the Great' of Macedon, imitating the style of posthumous Alexander tetradrachms from southern Asia Minor and Rhodes. Obverse: head of Heracles facing to right, wearing lion skin headdress, paws tied before neck. Reverse: AΛEΞANΔPOY-BAΣIΛEΩΣ, Zeus enthroned left, right leg drawn back, feet on ground line, eagle in right hand, scepter in left hand.

Page from the Book of Kells, an ancient Celtic manuscript on the life of Jesus Christ. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

The Celts are a quite unknown and undocumented people, however we do know that they were from throughout Europe. Their coinage is one of the only links we have to their existence, for there is no Celtic writing that has survived. The coins give a hint into their quite enigmatic existence. The influence of the Macedonians (e.g. Philip II and Alexander the Great) is strong, suggesting that perhaps some Celts adapted Macedonian culture and intermingled with them.