Aulerci Diablintes Gold Stater 2nd century BC. Celtized laureate head of Apollo right / A chariot drawn by an androcephalic horse on the right. In the foreground, a vexillum suspended from a cord held by the charioteer. Below, a seahorse. 7,76g. DT 2162 (this coin); LT 6684 and 6804; Scheers Péronne 255 (same obverse die). An extraordinary specimen of remarkable style. Small marks in field, otherwise extremely fine. Provenance: Leu 25 (23 April 1980), 11. Leu 59 (17 May 1994), 14. NGSA 5 (3 December 2008), 7. NGSA 7 (27 November 2012), 116. Fearing the Celts, who were renowned for their martial prowess, the Hellenistic kings did not hesitate to pay them substantial tributes in order to avoid conflict and secure their alliance. As a result, many Celts were employed in Hellenistic armies and were paid with gold staters or silver tetradrachms of Philip II, king of Macedon (359–336 BC). Possessing abundant precious metal, the Celts in turn struck their own coinage inspired by these Macedonian prototypes. At first, these imitations remained relatively faithful, but over time the engravers replaced the original imagery with more free interpretations reflecting Celtic iconography. Struck two centuries after the assassination of the Macedonian king, this exceptional stater illustrates this cultural appropriation: the obverse portrait of Apollo still bears clear Macedonian influence, while on the reverse the charioteer follows the Celtic conventions. The horse perfectly exemplifies the Celtic taste for androcephalic representations.