Knowing that I like ancient coins, my colleagues (good friends indeed, i was moved) just offered me a scarce Gaulish coin, a nice one. It's a coin of Tasgetius, king of the Carnutes and staunch ally of Julius Caesar (well... what a traitor! probably a remote ancestor of Maréchal Pétain?). Carnutes, Tasgetius, 60-40 BC, AE 15 mm, 2.16 g. Obv.: ЄΛΚЄSΟΟΙΞ, head of Apollo (?) right. Rev. TA SG II TI OS, Pegasus galloping right The obv. legend, in Greek letters, remains obscure. Elkesouix sounds Gaulish (like in Asterix). The obv. head of Apollo seems to be imitated from the Roman denarii of C. Calpurnius Piso Frugi minted in 90 BC. The reverse legend, Tasgiitios, the king's name, is in Latin letters but what is written e in Latin was written ii in Gaulish. Tasgiitios, whom Caesar called "Tasgetius", was a Gaulish nobleman of royal descent, his ancestors were kings of the Carnutes, the Gaulish "city" whose main sanctuary was at Autrikon or Autricum (today's Chartres) and the capital was Cenabum, today's Orléans. The Carnutes seemed to have switched to some form of republican regime. Tasgiitios was pro-Roman and joined Caesar's army where he commanded a cavalry force. In 57 BC Caesar restored monarchy for the Carnutes and made Tasgiitios their king (well... not Pétain, maybe Louis XVIII?). But his reign did not last long, he was assassinated in 54 BC by opponents. Caesar immediately sent a legion to occupy the territory of the Carnutes, but things worsened and the Carnutes revolted. In 53 BC there was an uprising in Cenabum where all Roman expats (merchants, for most of them) were massacred. This triggered a general Gallic insurrection led by the Arvernian king Vercingetorix, a well-known story. Specialists seem to consider that these coins could have been minted under Tasgiitios' reign but also after his death, they are not dated strictly 57-54 BC but more widely 60-40 BC. This is my first Gaulish coin ! I don't know why I had none at all until now. I even had a few Persian and even Ethiopian ancient coins, but not a single one from my own land... I am seriously considering acquiring some more Gaulish coins in the future.
Neat. I like that smiling bust and the pretty little pegasus. From an interesting time and place in history, too.
Great coin and great Pegasos on the reverse. I don't have too many, but I love this period for the combination of Gallic & Roman style & symbols, with Latin inscriptions. The most recent ANS "Long Table" (on Friday) discussed Gallic and Iberian coins (and other Western "Provincials") & the gradual adoption of features of Roman Republican coinage (e.g., imagery, denominations, inscriptions). Long Table 166 (15 Dec 2023). Lucia Carbone: Local Coinages in a Roman World, Second Century BC–First Century AD [The video isn't up yet, but they'll post it to Youtube & ANS website] MY TWO FAVORITES C. Gaul (Sequani) AR Quinarius (12mm, 1.93g, 5h), 1st cent. BCE. Head of Roma / Horse. Q•DOCI – SAM•F. This coin = Cahn 81 (5 Apr 1933), 1606 (part), ex Collections of Felix de Saulcy (1807-1880) & Prince Karl Egon II (and descendants, Fürstenberger family, 19th cent. or earlier) Interesting adaptation of the helmeted Roma with visor found on Republican Denarii! And maintaining the Gallo-Celtic style image of horse on the reverse, but with Latin inscriptions. This was one of the "highly Romanized deniers gauloises" discussed by L. Carbone last Friday (see above). They name a Gallic Chieftan with Roman praenomen, (probably) Quintus Doci. This tribe was apparently described by Julius Caesar as "friends of the Romans" (Amici Populi Romani). S. Gaul (probably Cavares) AE Sextans (?) (16mm, 1.67g), 1st cent. BCE. Naming T. Pom. Sex. f. (Titus Pompeius, son of Sextus?). Male bust r. / Bull. This coin = RPC I Online 507, ex. 14 = Depeyrot 130.54 = Amb. P. Villemur (1946-) Coll. (Burgan 31 [Paris, 6 Nov 1992], 84; Triton XI [NYC, 8 Jan 2008], 2) = Nomus Brasiliana Coll., NB206 (exhibited at various Brazilian institutions, 2011-2017; pub. Noenio Spinola, 2011, Dinheiro, Deuses & Poder) Is the male bust a portrait of the named Titus Pompeius? References don't seem to take a stance for this one. Recent: Valverde, "Sobre...(RPC I 507)", 2013 [to PDF] (en español); classic: Blanchet, Traité, 1905: pp. 255-6 [on Archive] (en français). The Roman Republican mints didn't use their own portraits yet, but it seems the Western "pre-Provincial" coins sometimes did. (See, e.g., the fascinating Sammlung Dr. W.R., Teil 7 = Kuenker 396, focused on this period & region's portraits.)
A lovely coin and a great start to your Gaulish collection. I just won a C. Calpurnius Piso Frugi denarius yesterday, so I was (overly!) pleased that I could understand your connection between those two coins.
