CELTIC, Central Europe. Vindelici. Late 2nd to early 1st century BC. Quinarius (Silver, 15 mm, 1.91 g, 9 h), 'Prototyp' issue. Naturalistic male head to left, hairs in thick upwards strands. Rev. Horse galloping to left. Dembski -. Flesche 365. Karl 309 var. (later style). Kellner, Manching, 66. LT -. SLM 1105 var. (later style). Extremely rare and in exceptional condition for this earliest issue. A beautiful, boldly struck and perfectly centered piece. Minor die break on the reverse, otherwise, extremely fine.
From a Swiss collection, formed over two generations.
This issue is the precursor of the later 'Büschelquinarii', on which the male head on the obverse gradually degenerates into a whirl. What is especially interesting about this coin is that both the male head and the horse are of a very early and exceptionally naturalistic style, which places it at the beginning of the whole series.