DOI Heft:
Znaleziska / Finds
DOI Artikel:Budaj, Marek: An interesting Celtic coin of the Pełczyska type found in Slovakia
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.41338#0314
MAREKBUDAJ
Description of the Coin
Celts, Boii, Au, 14-stater, Pełczyska type, end of the 2nd century BC - beginning of the lst
century BC
Obv: indefinite pattems
Rv: strongly concave saucer-shaped form, with two arches on the left; on the right, there is
a thick linę with three strong dots and an inconspicuous fourth dot situated to the right
of the linę
Weight: 0.73 g, diam. 10.93 x 9.35 mm (Fig. 2)
References: ADAMKIEWICZ 2000: 56-57; RUDNICKI 2003: 5, figs. 3-4; IDEM 2005: 392,
fig. 2.'
Coins of the Pełczyska type belong to relatively rare golden Boian coins that
have been named after the village of Pełczyska, situated approximately 55 km
northeast of Kraków. It was an intensively inhabited locality in the La Tene during
LT Cl-LT D2.1 2 Beside archaeologically rich materiał, four Celtic and fifteen
Roman coins were found there.3
While the purity of the '/ś-stater discovered in Slovakia has not been analyzed,
an initial look makes it elear that it is not manufactured from pure gold. This is also
typical for the exemplar discovered in Pełczyska, the purity of which is about 70-
-75%.4 5 The finds of '/s-staters of the Pełczyska type are particularly concentrated
in Southern, and partly also in central, Poland. Apart from the yillage of Pełczyska,
a similar exemplar was found in Sieradz, and two morę similar coins originate from
an unspecified locality in the south of Poland." The above facts show that the coin
is relatively rare even in Poland. The coin found in Slovakia is iconographically
the most similar to the exemplar from Sieradz. South of Poland, these coins have
not been found. On the other hand, it should be taken into consideration that this
coin was found in Slovakia in an area that was intensively inhabited in the La Tene
period and which was part of the wider hinterland of the oppidum located in present-
day Bratislava. Coins of the Pełczyska type can be roughly dated from the end
of the 2nd century BC to the beginning of the lst century BC. It was approximately
at the beginning of this period that the settlement in the Southwest of Slovakia
significantly changed due to the coming of the Boii into this area. By the end
of the 2nd century BC, some of the Boii moved on after their victorious battle against
the Cimbri and Teutones to the confluence of the Morava and Danube rivers.6 Thus,
it cannot be excluded that this coin was brought by the new population penetrating
1 ADAMKIEWICZ 2000: 56-57; RUDNICKI 2003: 1-24; IDEM 2005: 391-404.
2 IDEM 1996: 243-256; IDEM 2003: 1.
3 IDEM 2003: 2-3.
4 Ibidem-. 8; IDEM 2005: 395.
5 ADAMKIEWICZ 2000: 56-57; RUDNICKI 2003: 5 and footnote 7.
6 YRTEL 2012: 177-179.
Description of the Coin
Celts, Boii, Au, 14-stater, Pełczyska type, end of the 2nd century BC - beginning of the lst
century BC
Obv: indefinite pattems
Rv: strongly concave saucer-shaped form, with two arches on the left; on the right, there is
a thick linę with three strong dots and an inconspicuous fourth dot situated to the right
of the linę
Weight: 0.73 g, diam. 10.93 x 9.35 mm (Fig. 2)
References: ADAMKIEWICZ 2000: 56-57; RUDNICKI 2003: 5, figs. 3-4; IDEM 2005: 392,
fig. 2.'
Coins of the Pełczyska type belong to relatively rare golden Boian coins that
have been named after the village of Pełczyska, situated approximately 55 km
northeast of Kraków. It was an intensively inhabited locality in the La Tene during
LT Cl-LT D2.1 2 Beside archaeologically rich materiał, four Celtic and fifteen
Roman coins were found there.3
While the purity of the '/ś-stater discovered in Slovakia has not been analyzed,
an initial look makes it elear that it is not manufactured from pure gold. This is also
typical for the exemplar discovered in Pełczyska, the purity of which is about 70-
-75%.4 5 The finds of '/s-staters of the Pełczyska type are particularly concentrated
in Southern, and partly also in central, Poland. Apart from the yillage of Pełczyska,
a similar exemplar was found in Sieradz, and two morę similar coins originate from
an unspecified locality in the south of Poland." The above facts show that the coin
is relatively rare even in Poland. The coin found in Slovakia is iconographically
the most similar to the exemplar from Sieradz. South of Poland, these coins have
not been found. On the other hand, it should be taken into consideration that this
coin was found in Slovakia in an area that was intensively inhabited in the La Tene
period and which was part of the wider hinterland of the oppidum located in present-
day Bratislava. Coins of the Pełczyska type can be roughly dated from the end
of the 2nd century BC to the beginning of the lst century BC. It was approximately
at the beginning of this period that the settlement in the Southwest of Slovakia
significantly changed due to the coming of the Boii into this area. By the end
of the 2nd century BC, some of the Boii moved on after their victorious battle against
the Cimbri and Teutones to the confluence of the Morava and Danube rivers.6 Thus,
it cannot be excluded that this coin was brought by the new population penetrating
1 ADAMKIEWICZ 2000: 56-57; RUDNICKI 2003: 1-24; IDEM 2005: 391-404.
2 IDEM 1996: 243-256; IDEM 2003: 1.
3 IDEM 2003: 2-3.
4 Ibidem-. 8; IDEM 2005: 395.
5 ADAMKIEWICZ 2000: 56-57; RUDNICKI 2003: 5 and footnote 7.
6 YRTEL 2012: 177-179.