Two Celtic gold cash which are among the many oldest ever present in Switzerland have been found by volunteers close to Arisdorf, three miles south of the German border. They date to the second half of the third century B.C., and solely about 20 examples are recognized from Switzerland.
Analysis means that the introduction of financial techniques in Central Europe may be traced again to Celtic mercenaries. These males had been paid for his or her companies in Greece with cash and introduced them again residence with them. Across the center of the third century BC, the Celts started their very own coinage, imitating gold cash of the Macedonian king Philip II (359–336 BC). The obverse of those cash depicts the pinnacle of the Greek god Apollo, the reverse a chariot (biga). The Celts tailored each motifs in their very own distinctive model. The 2 gold cash from Arisdorf are amongst these imitations. Coin skilled Michael Nick of the Stock of Coin Finds of Switzerland (IFS) recognized the stater (weight 7.8 g) because the Gamshurst sort and the quarter stater (1.86 g) because the Montmorot sort. They thus belong to the very small group of simply over 20 recognized examples of the oldest Celtic cash from Switzerland, which originated across the center and second half of the third century BC.
These had been extraordinarily beneficial cash, far too beneficial to function common circulation foreign money. The Celts most likely used them to pay their troopers simply as the unique Greek staters had been used to pay for his or her mercenary companies in Macedon. They could have additionally been diplomatic presents, to safe political favors or alliances, or as dowries.
The discover web site is on the Bärenfels Moor, which can be a clue to how the cash acquired there. These gold cash are most frequently present in graves or in bogs/our bodies of water which had been held as sacred by the Celts. The cash are believed to have been left as choices.
As a result of the 2 gold cash are so uncommon, canton officers determined to place them on show as quickly as potential. In March, they may be a part of the continuing exhibition “Treasure Finds” on the Historic Museum Basel within the Barfüsserkirche. The exhibition contains Celtic silver cash from a hoard of 34 relationship to round 80-70 B.C. that had been discovered within the Bärenfels space in 2022.
