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The third generation of coins began around 125 BC and saw a surge of new coin types being created by numerous tribes. The coins in this period are some of the most beautiful and abstract coins the Celts created.
Photo copyrights: Aa CGB Numismatique Paris; Ca NumisCorner.com; Cb Comptoir des Monnaies; Cc Collecting Ancient Coins; Ce ogn-numismatique.com; E Classical Numismatic Group, LLC; F Comptoir des Monnaies; G Photograph www.poinsignon-numismatique.com; Eye Staters Mike Vosper Coins; Parisii Ira & Larry Goldberg
There are two reasons why there are so many coins from this period.
The first reason was the Cimbric war. In 120 BC the Germanic Cimbri, followed later by the Teutoni, moved out from their homeland and started invading the Celtic world. First they fought the Scordisci, and then the Boii. They entered Noricum in 113 BC, defeated a Roman army there, and then went on to plunder Helvetica. After that they moved to Gaul and in 109 BC defeated another Roman army in Transalpine Gaul. They remained in Southern Gaul and defeated another Roman army in 107 BC, and again in 104 BC. Rather than invade Italy they decided to raid southern Gaul and then Spain, where they were eventually driven back to Gaul. In 103/102 BC they were beaten by a coalition of Belgic tribes. At this point, they split into two groups (due to their size) and attacked Italy. The Teutoni and their allies were destroyed by a Roman army in 102 BC, and the same happened to the Cimbri in 101 BC.
The net result of this chaos was that lots of Celtic tribes had to mint gold coins, either to pay for soldiers, or to pay off their invaders.
The second reason was the Gallic wars. From 58 BC to 51 BC, Julius Caesar set about destroying the Gauls. By the end of the war, over a million Celts were dead, and a further million were enslaved. Not only did the Celts have to mint a large number of coins to pay for soldiers, but many Celts never returned to dig up their hoarded coins.
We will look at five different series of coins from this period over the next few pages:
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