VAuctions
Triskeles Sale 20 30 Jun 2017
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From the KJG Collection of British Celtic Coins. Ex Rudd 73 (January 2004), 26.
The pine-cone wand or thyrsus is an attribute of the Greek god Dionysos, the god of wine and festivity. The drinking cup that holds the thyrsus positively identifies the type as Dionysiac, but the reason for the association is not known. Perhaps it illustrates a particular love for Greek vintages, which the 'barbarians' like the Celts in England were notorious for consuming neat (i.e., undiluted with water as the Greeks drank their wines) and in prodigious quantities.