Ce|t|c '1hasos 1ype' Co|nage from Centra| 8u|gar|a

The most enigmatic and artistically varied of Iron Age European coinage, the barbarian issues
based on the Thasos prototype became a de facto common currency among the tribes of the
central and eastern Balkans in the immediate pre-Roman period (late 2
nd
/ 1
st
c. BC). While a
difference of opinion still remains in academic circles concerning which ethnic group produced
the early Thasos copies which remained close to the Hellenistic prototype, there is now general
agreement that the barbarized Thasos coinage of the 1
st
c. BC was produced by the Balkan
Celts, i.e. the imitations of Thasos tetradrachms had an international nature and featured
interactions and activities of a culture dominated by the east Celts (Prokopov 2011: 339).





(Only finds recorded before 2008)
(After Picard 2008)

New numismatic and archaeological material published over the past few years, particularly from
the area of south-central Bulgaria, has provided important new evidence on this unique coinage,
its distribution, and epicenter of production.




Celtic silver Thasos type tetradrachm and late La Tne bracelet found in a hoard at Maluk
Chardak, Plovdiv region, Bulgaria (late 1st c. BC) (after Prokopov, Paunov 2011)


THE NAIDENOVO HOARD

The village of Naidenovo is situated in the Bratya Daskalovi district (Stara Zagora region) of
south-central Bulgaria. A recently published hoard of Celtic Thasos tetradrachms from the
vicinity of the village, in combination with other numismatic and archaeological evidence
discovered in this area, has confirmed once again that this was the main coinage circulating
among the local population in this part of Bulgaria during the late 2
nd
/ 1
st
c. BC.


Location of Naidenovo and other villages mentioned in the text



In fact, the Na|denovo 'hoard' |s not a hoard |n the convent|ona| sense, but a co||ect|on of co|ns
from the 2
nd
/1
st
c. 8C wh|ch have 'wandered' |nto the reg|ona| museum |n Stara 2agora over the
past 50 years (Minkova 2012). 1hese |nc|uded 2 1hasos or|g|na| tetradrachms, ear|y '|m|tat|ons'
(late 2
nd
/ early 1
st
c. 8C), as we|| as |ater, h|gh|y 'barbar|zed', var|ants (from circa 70 BC onwards)
(loc cit), once again illustrating a continuation in production and circulation of such coinage in this
part of Thrace in the final centuries BC.

Celtic Thasos Type Tetradrachms from Naidenovo. (Te omplete mterl from te ord
nluded 2 ornl Tsos tetrdrms, 15 Celt Tsos type tetrdrms, 1 tetrdrm of
Maroneia, 1 Athens New Style tetradrachm, and 6 Roman Republican denarii).
(after Minkova 2012)


Also noteworthy are further finds of Celtic Thasos tetradrachms at the nearby villages
of Kolyo Marinovo and Medovo (both also in the Bratya Daskalovi district (Mac
Gonagle 2013, with relevant lit.), and particularly the recent discovery of Celtic (Philip III
type) drachms and Thasos type tetradrachms during excavations in the vicinity of
Bratya Daskalovi itself, directly to the south-west of Naidenovo (loc cit), providing
further archaeological confirmation that the currency circulating among the population
in this area of Thrace during the period in question consisted predominantly of Thasos
and Macedonian types of Celtic coinage.


Celtic (Philip III type) drachms and Thasos type tetradrachms discovered during excavations at
Bratya Daskalovi (Stara Zagora region) south-central Bulgaria (after Mac Gonagle 2013)

Celtic Jezerine type fibula and silver earring from the Celtic female burial (#10) at
Karakochovata Tumulus (Bratya Daskalovi), Stara Zagora region
(see Mac Gonagle 2013)






Sources Cited

Mac Gonagle (2013) https://www.academia.edu/4107842/The_Celts_in_Central_Thrace
Minkova M. (2012) A Second-First century BC coin hoard from the village of Naidenova, Municipality
of Bratya Daskalovi, Stara Zagora region. In: AkC? 1C Aln. scunu u c n
pu puu u nuu u cu nru 60-ruunun / AkC?
1C Aln. SLudla ln honorem lllae rokopov sexagenarlo ab amlcls eL discipulis dedicata.
Veliko Tarnovo. p. 425-430
Picard O. (2008) Les ttrdrmes types tsens et les uerres tres u dut du Ier sle vnt
notre r. Comptes rendus des snes de lAdme des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. 2008, Vol.
152, issue 2. P465-493.
Prokopov I. (2011)The Imitations of Late Thasian Tetradrachms: Chronology, Classification and
Dating. In: N. Holmes (ed.), Proceedings of the XIVth International Numismatic Congress, Glasgow,
31 August 4 September 2009. London: Spink, 2011, 337349.
Prokopov I., Paunov E. (2011) Maluk Chardak 1990. An unpublished late Roman Republican Hoard
from Thrace. in: - IN MEMORIAM (2011)
http://ilyaprokopov.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/12_Paunov_Prokopov.pdf

Rustoiu A. (1997) Fibulele din Dacia Preromana (sec. I i.e.n. - I e.n.) Bucuresti