Among the Finest Known
CELTIC, Middle Danube. Uncertain tribe. Late 2nd-early 1st century BC. AR Tetradrachm (24mm, 12.46 g, 10h). Variety of Reiterstumpf type. Male head (Apollo?) left / Rider on horseback left, showing only his torso; torque-like ground line below. CNG 72, 25 (same dies); Gorny & Mosch 141, 22 (same dies); unpublished in the standard references. Superb EF, lightly toned. Very rare, and among the finest known.
This coin is from a newly discovered type clearly related to the Reiterstumpf/Kroisbach type by virtue of the close similarity of their reverse types, as well as the overall style and characteristics of their flans. The obverse type has a stylistic affinity with the left-facing male heads on the Apollokopf/Leierblume type, particularly in the details of the face and jaw line (cf. Göbl, OTA 396-398). Both the Reiterstumpf and Apollokopf types are attributed to the same general region and time frame, so a new type combining elements of both is not unexpected.
