[Home, My eBay, Site Map, Sign In/Out] [eBay logo] [Main Navigation] [Browse Sub-Navigation] VF Celtic Potin Remi Tribe / Warrior & Bear Item # 1239982184 Coins:Coins: World:Ancient:Celtic Bidding is closed for this item. [Spacer] [Show description]Currently $84.00 First bid $1.00 (reserve [Leave feedback] met) (to seller) Quantity 1 # of bids 2 bid history (to bidder) Time left Auction hasLocation Grand Marais, MN Home ended. of Sven & Ole If you are the Country/RegionUSA/Minneapolis-St. seller or a Paul high bidder - May-21-01 [envelope] mail this auction to a now what? Started 18:23:12 friend PDT May-31-01 [Gift Alert] request a gift alert Ends 18:23:12 PDT [Image] Seller (Rating) ancient-imports (778) [star] [about me] view comments in seller's Feedback Profile | view seller's other auctions | ask seller a question [Image] High bid eric_schmerick (5) [Image] Payment Money Order/Cashiers Checks. Personal Checks. Visa/MasterCard. 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[Image] www.AncientImports.com [Image] * If you have any questions about this coin please contact me marc@ancientimports.com Obverse Warrior King walking r. holding torc and spear Reverse Bear r. attacking serpent, serpent above Description * This is a wonderful example of a classic Celtic potin minted by the Remi tribe which occupied the area around modern day Reims, France. Featuring a nice green patina and a very nice bear! Monnaies II 581, De La Tour 8124. The cost of wholesale potins has risen by 30% in the past month so I have been forced to set reserves to protect my investment. Weight is 4.1 grams and size is 19mm. WHAT ARE POTINS? Most collectors of ancient coins have their particular areas of interest: Roman denarii or sestertii, Greek silver or bronzes, perhaps Biblical coins. Many if not most collectors of ancient coins outside of Europe have never heard of a potin. So what are they, who issued and used them and where and when were they minted? POTINS--THE COINS To look at, a potin is naturally gray to black in color with a smooth hard surface, which looks almost as if it had been polished. Most have somewhat crude detail in comparison to struck Roman and Greek bronzes. In fact, they are reminiscent of the cast Aes Grave series of the Roman Republic. The word “potin” was the name given by 19th century metallurgists to a special alloy of bronze, which contained an unusually high percentage of tin (up to 25 percent), and quite often an appreciable percentage of lead as well. It was its metallurgical composition that made it the choice of moneyers in Gaul, roughly the area of today’s France and Belgium, between about 100 BC and the beginning of the Roman Empire under Augustus. There was plenty of alluvial tin to be found in northwest France and southwest England (a few hours away by sailing boat across the English Channel) and copper mining was already well established from the Bronze Age era. It is a well known metallurgical fact that the more tin that is added to a bronze alloy, the lower the temperature at which it melts. It can be cast into molds quickly and simply, even under primitive conditions. If a moneyer had a pattern, or even a coin, he could press it between two pieces of clay, cutting a channel for pouring in the molten alloy, and in a few moments he could cast a coin. To cast a number of coins at the same time, the moneyer took two strips of clay, pressed the obverse of the coin or pattern into one, and the reverse into the other, cutting grooves to join the impressions together, then he poured in the metal at one end and let it cool. He would then break up the mold to extract the strips of coins, trim their edges with a sharp tool, and a new handful of coins would be ready for circulation. The trimmings from the flan spew went back into the melting pot and the used clay was discarded and the process was repeated until the proper amount of currency had been minted. When a worn coin was used as the host for the mold, the end result would be a copy of the worn coin. Many times a coin that looked to be worn was actually “as struck.” For such a simple process, the finished product had one significant advantage over struck bronze coins. The coin-mold cavity could not be off center unless the clay strips were misaligned. This eliminated the off-center strikes commonly seen on Roman and Greek coins. Designs ran the full gamut from crude to quite complex; each with its own stylized Celtic flair. So now we know what potins are, and how they were made. The next question is, who issued them and used them? POTINS—THEIR ISSUE AND DISTRIBUTION Potins were essentially produced by the Celts who lived in Gaul, having migrated westward over a number of centuries from their original homelands in central Europe. They were an adventurous, dynamic race. They were expert ironworkers and developed ploughs which transformed a wooded and uncultivated land into a fertile homeland. The exploits of the Celts were not unlike those of the pioneers of the 19th century American west. The Celts quickly organized themselves into tribal communities with permanent dwellings with each tribe dominating its own territory. Such villages suggested a developing society, as well as an obviously defendable stronghold. Although the Celts do not appear to have had a written language of their own, we know from the writings of contemporary Romans and Greeks who visited them that their organization and living standards had developed well beyond the subsistence level. It is not too fanciful to assume that products were bought and sold rather than simply bartered, which meant that currency was needed for day-to-day commerce. The Celts were a warlike race, and the Greeks had taken advantage of their military capabilities and recruited them as mercenaries since the middle of the 4th century BC. Therefore, as the Celtic society was developing in the west, they already knew about monetary systems and coinage from their service to the Greeks. It was not long before they started production of their own coinage based on the gold staters of Philip of Macedon, silver drachms and tetradrachms of Philip, Alexander the Great and Thasos. These copies of Greek coinage were the earliest coinage minted by the Celts. Such coins, however, were too valuable for everyday use; it is thought they were mainly used for distribution as prestigious gifts between tribal leaders, who took ceremony very seriously and liked to show off their possessions. Silver and gold coinage had a very high value and what was needed was a coinage for common people to make day-to-day purchases such as flour and oil. Potins were the perfect answer. The Celts also produced silver and bronze coins which will be discussed in a future article. It is interesting to note that potins do not seem to have been produced to any universally accepted weight standard. Weights range from 2 to 7 grams and sizes range from 10mm to 23mm. Even within one tribe or tribal type there are many variations in size and weight. It is unknown if these were different denominations or just one tribe’s attempt to show superiority in the area of coinage. Unlike gold and silver, potins had no intrinsic value. It can be argued that they were the first “token coinage,” accepted by general consensus as a medium of exchange, much like today’s paper currency. Travel was difficult and probably dangerous, so each tribe produced coins for circulation only in its own immediate area. Each tribal area was fairly small; many were only the size of an average modern township, so it did not take a lot of coinage to supply the population of any particular tribe. Considering that potins were minted for less than 100 years, and each type for a small population base, it is amazing that they are available at moderate prices. In comparison, Roman coins were minted for a short duration--the reign of an emperor--however they were minted for an entire empire, making them much more common. Potins could then be compared in scarcity to the coinage of a short reigning emperor such as Galba. Potins could also be compared to bronze coinages of small Greek city-states and even then, potins were minted for a much shorter duration. Obviously, coins traveled with travelers and merchants and they were possibly accepted as payment for goods and services away from their tribes of issue. By drawing on written sources such as Caesar's Commentaries on the Gallic War, we know roughly where the major tribes had their bases. By noting which types and designs of potins predominated among coins found in each area, we can fairly confidently link a particular coin-type to its probable issuing tribe. POTINS—THEIR DESIGNS AND MEANINGS This brings us to the heart of potin collecting. A collector may ask: “Why do so many tribes use horses?” “Why do many potins feature wild boars?”or, “ What does a spoked wheel on a potin signify?” The reply can only be that no one can at present give a precise unarguable answer, and this is for me probably the most fascinating aspect of the whole potin series. We know from contemporary writers that the boar was revered as a symbol of courage, that the spoked wheel probably represents the sun or a sun god, a horse was a symbol of the Celt’s advanced horsemanship and travel, and a horse with a bird on its back may be a Celtic derivative from the Greek Pegasus. Only considerable further research will start to open the doors to these further meanings. It is a pleasure to ponder such things…it is part of the Celtic way! It is an enjoyable part of the hobby of potin collecting to decide what a certain image meant to Celts of that day. One potin of the Remi tribe depicts a person walking r. with what appears to be a torc, a necklace worn by warriors and nobility in one hand, and what looks to be a spear in the other. The hair is done in a single long braided pigtail. Knowing that the torc symbolizes either kingship, or at least clan leadership, or the ornament of a leading warrior, we can assume that the figure is a leader of some sort. The spear would signify a warrior, or perhaps a leader or king. I have also seen this figure described as a Celtic god dancing with a torc and snake. This, in essence, is the beauty of potins. They are largely open to interpretation and speculation. COLLECTING POTINS—SOME PRACTICAL TECHINQUES Many collectors already have an area of specialty that they collect; mine is potins. Below I have listed a few ideas on starting a collection of potins. Starting a full collection may not be the goal of most collectors; I would however suggest adding a few to highlight either your Greek or Roman collections. Potins range in price from $30 to several hundred dollars depending on quality and scarcity. My personal favorite is the Remi potin described above which could be purchased for $40 to $150 depending on condition. Atlas de Monnaies Gauloises by Henri De La Tour is the standard reference for Gallic Celtic coinage, and can be purchased for less than $30. There are various ways of starting a potin collection and a number of approaches are possible. There are a good variety of types available considering that potins are overall scarce to rare coins. 1. Buy a few to highlight your Roman collection as enemies of Julius Caesar & Augustus. 2. Buy a few to highlight your Greek collection as allies of the Greek world. 3. As coin types vary among tribes, search out a specimen for each tribe within your designated price range. 4. Go for themes: collect potins that show horses, for instance, or perhaps boars. 5. With the smaller tribes, collect an entire set of all coins issued for that tribe. 6. Concentrate on obverse types: the “wild man head” and “bald head” are just two examples. 7. Concentrate on reverse styles, as these vary dramatically. Potins are not as challenging to attribute as deciphering IMP CAES NER TRAIANO OPTIMO AVG GER DAC PARTHICO PM TR P COS VI PP from a well worn bronze of Trajan, or identifying the bust of Amazon Lykastia on a Greek bronze. They are a Celtic art form that is intricately woven like a Celtic knot into both the Roman and Greek worlds. About My Photos All of my photos are taken with a high quality, high magnification digital camera. Every detail is brought to life using this camera so you can accurately grade the coin. Bronze coins will appear lighter in the picture due to the lighting needed to get a good image. Payment Information * In the US payment can be made by personal check, money order, cash or credit card payment can be made by using PayPal. * International bidders may pay with Money order,cash or paypal. Email for other options. Shipping and Handling * $2.00 for First Class Mail within the USA. Insurance is an extra cost. All orders where insurance is waived are sent at the buyers own risk. * Insurance is an additional cost and is determined by the final price paid and is calculated at the current USPS rates. * Bid on as many of my coins as you like and save money; multiple coins are always shipped for the one time $2.00 shipping fee. * International orders including Canada ship airmail at your own risk for the same price of $2. Add $6 for Global priority which is uninsured but fast. Add $9 for safe registered mail insured up to $40. Add $21 for fully insured international express mail. Terms of Sale * All coins are unconditionally guaranteed to be authentic and as pictured. * I offer a 7 day return on all coins if you are not satisfied. A full refund of the purchase price is given, shipping costs are non-refundable. * Please respond to my e-mail within 48 hours of the auction's close. If you love ancient coins, or just want to learn more, joining one or more of the following lists will help you explore this great hobby: * AncientCoinMarket or ACM, This list is for buying and selling ancient coins * Moneta-L, This list is for the discussion of ancient coin topics and for attribution help from other collectors. * CoinCom, This list is for buying, selling and general discussion of ancient coins or related topics * IronAgeCoinage, This list is for the discussion of Iron Age Coinage Meet other collectors online! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Image] Bidding Bidding is closed for this item. This page is available on eBay for a limited time only. Please print a copy for your own records. If you're the seller or the high bidder - now what? 1. Contact each other. The seller (ancient-imports) and the high bidder (eric_schmerick) should contact each other within three business days to discuss payment and shipping details. 2. 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