History of Coins - Celts

Categories: Minting - Numismatics

The Celts were the first in our territory to master the production of pottery on the
Duhovka
wheel. They were also very skilled in mining ore, they knew how to find it, smelt it and forge tools for everyday life (keys, backsThe Celts also began to mint coins in our territory, the most famous being the irises. This abbreviated Czech name originated from the much longer, less poetic but more descriptive German Regenbogenschüsselchen = rainbow bowls, i.e. It is related to the well-known legend that a treasure of gold coins can be found if you dig where the rainbow arc touches the ground). Celtic coins are truly bowl-shaped, attributable to their method of production - hand-struck with iron dies. They still produced coins with inscriptions - biateky. BIATEC is the description (inscription) that appears most often on these coins, hence the name. Inscriptions on biateks are generally attributed to the names of Celtic rulers. They are sometimes accompanied by an image of a rider on horseback. They are relatively rare among collectors, although they were minted in large numbers. The original inspiration for the Celts to mint them was the Macedonians, who were influenced by the Greeks. Of course, there were coins a bit larger... but overall, Celtic coins were characterized by almost 100% purity of the metals (gold, silver) from which they were minted, so even coins of tiny size were of considerable value. For one such coin, a man could eat, drink and be merry all night in a tavern until morning...
.

biatec_hex.jpg

In the early days of antiquity, the exchange value was mostly just goats, cows and sheep. The problem was storage, such a precious currency, and the vagaries of the weather. So the ancient Greeks and the nimble merchant Phoenicians looked for an equivalent to replace the bleating and clattering "money".That equivalent became metal coins. It took a couple of decades before trading in this proxy for property value became widespread, but once it proved its worth in the Mediterranean, money began to develop rapidly. Celtic mercenaries also learned that it was better to carry a pouch full of coins than to carry bales of furs on horseback to change. The Celts traded furs with the Greeks for wine. The value of an amphora of wine, expressed in terms of silver coins, also seemed much more stable, and it was easier to confront the prices of individual merchants. At first the Celts used mainly acquired Greek coins, but soon - mainly following Greek designs - they began to mint their own coins. Gold, silver and bronze. And so they became traders as well as bankers and moneychangers, and also those who issued new coinage. Coins from almost all of Europe have been found at the Stradonian oppidum, including Greek, Roman, Iberian and Carthaginian coins, in addition to Celtic coins, testifying to the vigour and scale of Celtic trade.

Ilustrační foto

According to many scholars, the Stradonian oppidum probably became the main trading and manufacturing centre of the Celts not only in the Czech lands but in the whole of central Europe. Even though it did not reach the same size as the largest oppidum in the Czech Republic - Závist u Zbraslavi (170 ha), it developed an extensiveIt was also the first time that the town of Zbraslaska had a large manufacturing activity, including metalworking, blacksmithing (mass production of iron clasps, etc.), enamelling, pottery and coinage. For the first time in the Czech Republic, equestrian spurs, keys for house locks and wax writing tablets were also found among the Stradonian finds. These products also prove the high level of civilisation of the then inhabitants of Hradiště. The trade relations of the local inhabitants also raise eyebrows. The finds from Hradiště included such exotic objects as coins from North Africa, Gaul (today's France), Celtic Celtic homeland), southern Germany and, of course, coins from the Roman Empire, with which the Celts had extensive contacts.

Creating a replica of an iris is a tricky business. It requires a fair amount of skill and effort to create the dies that are then used to mint modern irises from scraps of metal...and truth be told, the layman doesn't enjoy it much. With today's popularity of demonstrating historical craftsmanship, it seems that just "minting your own coin" might be an easy pastime in many open-air museums. A real iris is tiny, and a punch to punch a punch.

The Castle on the Saddle (902 m above sea level) - 1 km south of Albrechtice u Sušice, it has an elongated, irregular ground plan over 400 m long. The fortress was created by a combination of natural rock walls and an artificially piled stone wall. The stone enclosure known as the Giant's Castle at Popelné near sedlo.jpg stone seas, 5 km southeast of Kašperské Hory, is the highest prehistoric structure in the Czech Republic with its altitude of 940 to 980.5 m. The fortification consists of an elevated acropolis and a fortification with a total length of 370 m and a width of about 80 m. The stone ramparts reach a height of up to 5 m. The outer, almost perpendicular wall of the stone walls was faced and topped with a wooden structure.

Although there is no evidence of gold-bearing ore from the immediate vicinity of the Giant's Causeway for a distance of 3 to 4 kilometres, the Mincesome archaeologists that the Giant's Causeway was used to protect the gold mined by the Celts in the wider area.

For centuries, people in the area could not explain the origin of the massive stone ramparts. They saw the wondrous structure as the seat of giants. One of the folk tales tells of the discovery of their bones, supposedly three metres long, which the villagers of Poplena used as a footbridge across the Losenice River. Finds of Celtic coins at the Giant's Castle suggest the possibility of a secondary use of the fortress in the 2nd-1st century BC as a stop on the trail from the Danube.

Ilustrační foto

Recently, researchers have suggested a special purpose for the Giant's Causeway. It is assumed that it was not a conventional fortification, but an enclosure of a sacred place. This is suggested by the fact that the inner area of the stone ramparts does not yield the usual archaeological findsfinds of shards of vessels, metal or glass objects and common kitchen refuse such as bones. This interpretation is also supported by the report, recorded by Gaius Julius Caesar in his Records of the Gallic War, that the priests and judges of the Celts, the Druids, "at a certain time of the year sit... in a sacred place... which region is considered the centre of Gaul". It may also be admitted that the Celts performed sacred sacrifices here at the Giant's Causeway. These sacrifices are known to have been made by the Celts at night, by moonlight, and white bulls or even humans were sacrificed.

Let us add that traces of possible Celtic shafts in the Kašperskohorsko region were probably destroyed by later medieval mining. Celtic panning is probably indicated by the recent discovery of several sherds of Celtic pottery from the southeastern tip of Kašperské Hory. Among the arguments for Celtic gold mining in the Upper Pootaví region are also reports of the discovery of Celtic coins near Kašperské Hory and Sušice.

Text: PhDr. Vladimír Horpeniak, Museum of Sumava Kašperské Hory
Photo: Karel Kuklík, Prague

Replicas of the coins can also be seen in the museum in Sedlčmore

Muzeum

http://www.muzeum-sedlcany.cz/

Do you also want to find a historical coin? Take a look at our metal detectors.

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Nádherný kolečka :)

Kdo mě to tady píše o mém regionálním museum.Pěkné.....

Krasna kolecka a super clanek,pricaruj mi jeste jeden....

Pěknej článek, nádherný fotečky a skvělý kolečka, díky...

Krasny clanecek dik za pouceni...

Díky za doplňování znalostí, vím o tomto skoro houby!

Super článek,super kolečka,super fotky.Kde se dají sehnat tyhle informace?

Díky za pochvalu. Hledám všude. Po knihovnách, na internetu, ve skriptech.. prostě kde se dá. pak z toho vznikne článek. vždycky je to více zdrojů

krásnej článek - člověk by se měl zajímat víc o minulosti ve svém okolí a né se hnát pořád do předu

byl jsem na obrim hrade a vsem to doporucuju,jedte tam v lete nekdy v kvetnu a to kamenny more a ricka losenice vas dostane

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