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Description
As a Celtic counterpart of the Greek obol, small silver coins occur in southern Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria. The main occurrence in phase La Tène D1 (150-75 BC) correlates with the emergence of oppidum settlements. So far research has focused on the publication of single and hoard finds, and also coins from settlements in order to broaden the material base. Now for the first time this type of coinage is to be recorded systematically within the framework of a dissertation. While larger Celtic currencies continue to raise the question of the extent to which they are money, there is sufficient evidence to make an argument for an early phase of monetarization based on small silver. This is particularly interesting, as there are proto-urban phases in the study area with the emergence of small silver, which ended with the abandonment of oppida. This would give examples that contradict the idea of monetarization as a gradual process.
