CAESAR'S GALLIC WARS ERA (58-50 BC)
BELGAE GALLO-GERMANIC TRIBE OF THE AMBIANI
GOLD CELTIC BELGIC STATER
CERTIFIED BY NGC ABOUT UNCIRCULATED
OBV: CONVEX BLANK.
REV: SLIGHTLY CONCAVE; STYLIZED DISJOINTED LINE REPRESENTATION OF A CELTICIZED HORSE, PELLET BELOW AND WITH DOTS, SYMBOLS AND ORNAMENT.
THE BELGAE MIGRATED INTO WHAT IS NOW BELGIUM AROUND THE 3rd CENTURY BC. THESE GALLO-GERMANIC TRIBES LIVED IN NORTHEASTERN GAUL, BETWEEN THE ENGLISH CHANNEL AND THE RHINE. OF THE PEOPLE OF GAUL (WHO CALLED THEMSELVES CELTAE), JULIUS CAESAR DESCRIBED THE BELGAE, THE FARTHEST OF THE GAULS TO BE REMOVED FROM "CIVILIZED" ROME AND ALSO THE CLOSEST TO THE BARBARIAN GERMANIC TRIBES, AS THE BRAVEST. THE NAME BELGAE LOOSLY TRANSLATES TO "THOSE THAT SWELL WITH FURY".
THE AMBIANI, THE TRIBE THAT MADE THIS COIN, ARE DESCRIBED IN CAESAR'S GALLIC WAR AND TOOK PART IN THE GREAT INSURRECTION AGAINST ROME IN 57 BC. THIS TYPE OF AMIBIANIC SATER WAS ISSUED TO FUND THE WAR AGAINST JULIUS CAESAR, AND SANS OBVERSE DESIGN, WAS MOST PROBABLY STRUCK IN A HURRY. THE AMBIANI MADE THEIR HOME IN THE SAMARA VALLEY (VALLEY OF THE SOMME) AND THEIR CHIEF TOWN, SAMAROBRIVA WAS RENAMED BY THE ROMANS AMBIANI OR CIVITAS AMBIANENSIUM AND CORRESPONDS TO THE MODERN CITY OF AMIENS. ALTHOUGH ABLE TO MUSTER AN ARMY OF 10,000 MEN, THE AMBIANI SUBMITTED TO CAESAR IN 57 BC, FOLLOWING THE SUIT OF OTHER NEARBY TRIBES, IN THE FACE OF SEVERAL ROMAN LEGIONS WITH POWERFUL SEIGE ENGINES IN SUPPORT.
MANY BELGIC STATERS COINS HAVE A REMARKABLE STYLISTIC ORIGIN. THE COINS OF CELTIC GAUL AND OF CELTIC BRITAIN ARE MODELLED ON A STATER OF THE MACEDONIAN KING PHILIP II (382-336 BC), FATHER OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT. THE COIN, A PHILLIPUS, HAS A LAUREATE BUST OF THE MACEDONIAN RULER ON THE OBVERSE AND A TWO-HORSE CHARIOT AND DRIVER ON THE OTHER.
THE EVOLUTION OF THE NORTHERN EUROPEAN STATERS CAN BE TRACED BY GENERATION OF STAGES OF STYLIZATION, THROUGH SOUTH AND WEST GAUL, THEN THROUGH NORTHEAST AND BELGIC GAUL AND THEN TO BRITAIN. THE COIN DESIGNS, SUCH AS ON THIS PARTICULAR GOLD STATER, ARE WONDERFULLY ABSTRACT, USING LINES AND SYMBOLS AND DOTS TO DEPICT THE SUBJECTS, IN THIS CASE A HORSE.
FROM THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE OF THE REMAINS OF A BELGIC FORT IN KENT, SOUTHERN BRITAIN, COINS OF THE AMBIANI HAVE BEEN FOUND IN LARGE NUMBER AND DATE FROM THE MID -2nd CENTURY BC.
IN HIS COMMENTARIES, JULIUS CAESAR ALSO DESCRIBES HIS CONTACT WITH THE BELGAE ON THE CONTINENT (HE CONQUERED GALLIA BELGICA IN 57 BC) AND IN BRITAIN (WHICH HE INVADED IN 55-54 BC). THIS WAS THE TURBULET ERA IN WHICH THIS MAGNIFICENT COIN WAS CRAFTED.
ROMANIZATION BROUGHT TO AN END THE ALMOST ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONIST, HIGHLY STYLIZED AND INTERPRETIVE CELTIC COINAGE OF GAUL AND BRITAIN.
CONTAINS 6.25 GRAMS OF GOLD
14.5 MM TO 15 MM IN DIAMETER
