Ancient Celtic Coin Art

Little bigger than a fingernail, Celtic Coins are one of the richest sources of Celtic art in the world, and yet few people are even aware of their existence. With their strange otherworldly designs they evoke a forgotten time of magical beasts, amulets, shamen and spirit helpers. In this extraordinary pocket volume, incredibly the first of its kind, Celtic Coin specialist Simon Lilly unveils the amazing lost world of early European art still hidden in museums and private collections all over the world. With hundreds of original drawings by the author.

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• 3 First published Wooden Books Ltd 2008 AD Published by Wooden Books Ltd. 8A Market Place, Glastonb
• 4 Dedicated to the men of skill who envisaged and created this Iron Age art of magic and power. Than
• 1 INTROduCTION Iron Age coins are the least studied artefacts of Celtic art yet are paradoxically on
• 2 3 In Iron Age Europe coinage was just one form of disposable wealth along with other items of prec
• 4 5 The use of coinage took hold in the Eastern Mediterranean in the 5th century BC, largely as a co
• 6 7 All peoples of IndoEuropean descent, from India to Ireland, believed that the horse represented
• 8 9 WATCHERS hidden faces of the spirit world One of the characteristics of Iron Age art is the cont
• 10 11 Throughout northern Europe, at least from the time of the Bronze Age, the sun was represented
• 12 13 Celtic artists loved to play with image and pattern. Their designs mimic themes of poetry and
• 16 17 The tree was a sacred icon in the spiritual life of the Iron Age, as it was to their predecess
• 18 19 GuARdIANS OF THE TRIBE spiritual weapons and blessings There are several groups of Celtic coin
• 20 21 Strongly hierarchical and ostentatious cultures like the Celts pay great attention to the visu
• 22 23 Many Iron Age scabbards are decorated with two facing dragons, and this may indicate there was
• 24 25 Our ancestors felt all their experiences were equally real, whether external sights and sounds
• 26 27 A circular flan of metal has no top or bottom, no right way up, so images can be orientated in
• 28 29 Crescent motifs are as abundant in coin art as solar wheels and almost certainly represent the
• 30 31 Large almondshaped eyes are found widely in Celtic figurative art. On some coins they dominat
• 32 33 The Iron Age spiritual hierarchy of druids, bards and oracles was at the centre of tribal poli
• 34 35 Objects that resemble wands, ceremonial staffs or sceptres appear quite frequently in coin art
• 36 37 The torc, or neckring, is the defining symbol of the Iron Age Celt. An open ring, usually made
• 38 39 The most prevalent animal in coin art after the horse is the wild boar. Boar was the most for
• 40 41 Besides the horse and boar, many other animals appear in Celtic coin art. Exotic or mythologi
• 42 43 The movements of the stars and planets were an important part of the Celtic worldview. Stars
• 44 45 Very little is known about Celtic Iron Age beliefs. Indeed there may have been no distinct pa
• 46 47 Iron Age artists often use the image of the long arm to show the extent of power of some perso
• 48 49 For thousands of years mankind has transcended mundane experience and entered ecstatic states
• 50 51 Iron Age coin art provides a vivid doorway into the heart of our ancestors beliefs. Like visu
• 52 53 3 d. PARISII Paris Basin, France. Gold. Hair design and clothing are extremely important ele
• 54 55 21 g. ECENI Norfolk, E. England. c. 60 54 BC. Gold. Combination of motifs wolf, birds, and
• 56 57 41 i. S. GAUL. Gold. The lion of the Classical coin repertoire here becomes a domestic cat pl
• 58 a. b. c. d. e. g. f. h.