Bellovaques. Bronze statue of a rooster and a human head, undated (second third of the 1st century B.C. and the Gallic Wars).

LT.8584 - DT.509 - Scheers 474; Bronze - 2.18 g - 18 mm - 9 h
MP specimen No. 179 in the book “Surréelles Monnaies Gauloises,” by Samuel Gouet and Marc Petit—acquired from P. Crinon in 1997.
Bronze with fully defined designs on a wide, slightly irregular blank. Dark patina, with slight concretion in places. TTB / TTB to Superb.
The rooster motif, which likely first appeared among the Bellovaci in the late 50s B.C., gave rise to various coin issues concentrated in the southwestern part of the Ambien territory. This variety on a wide flan is highly characteristic, with an obverse in the style of DT. 231 and 510, but with an innovation on the reverse, incorporating a human profile into the rooster’s body. This rare type is found at the sites of Vendeuil-Caply, Estrées-Saint-Denis, and Saint-Maur (Oise). The Bracquemont type also shares this typological feature, but with a stylized Roman head on the obverse and a more “Roman” style, typical of the period following the Gallic Wars. It is interesting to note that this type of reverse is also found on bronze coins from across the Channel (see ABC. 737).