What is it about Celtic coins that is making them increasingly popular with collectors all over the world? Having been involved with Celtic coins for many years - I excavated my first in 1952 - I'll tell you why they appeal to me.
One of the first coins made in France. Gold stater of the Parisii, c.100-75 BC, who gave their name to Paris. Above the horse is a Celtic fishing net used on the River Seine. © JCB collection.	Rare gold stater of Celtic freedom-fighter Vercingetorix, young prince of the Arverni, defeated by Caesar at the hillfort of Alesia in 52 BC. © Bibliothéque Nationale.
I love the primal antiquity of Celtic coins. Mostly over 2,000 years old, they were the first coins made in England, the first in France, the first in Belgium, the first in Germany, the first in Switzerland, long before these nations had a national identity. I love the tribal regality of Celtic coins. Many were stamped with the names of rulers known to us only through their coins. Addedomaros, king of the Trinovantes, c.45-20 BC. Boduoc, king of the Dobunni, c.25-5 BC. Tasciovanos, king of the Catuvellauni, c.20BC-AD10. Sam, king of the Cantii, c.AD1-10. Vep Corf, Esup Asu, Dumnoc Tigir Seno and Dumnocoveros Volisios, kings of the Corieltauvi, c.5BC-AD45. Antedios, king of the Eceni, c.AD1-40. The very sound of their names is cheering to my ears.   Click here to view TRIBAL MAP I love the freedom fighters of Celtic coins, those brave warrior-kings and warrior-princes who opposed the power of Rome. Such as Commios 'the bow' of the Atrebates and Vercingetorix 'king of a hundred battles' who both fought Julius Caesar in Gaul, and Caratacos who attacked the Claudian army in Britain for seven years until he was betrayed by Queen Cartimandua of the Brigantes in AD50.
Rare gold stater of Dumnocoveros Volisios, c.35-43 AD, found at Scotch Corner, North Yorkshire, 20 August 1995. Dumnocoveros, son of Volisios, may have been king of the Parisi, Brigantes or Corieltauvi. This specimen is one of the finest seen since the Lightcliffe hoard of 182 9. Chris Rudd list 20, £1350.

Rare bronze of Veliocasses, c.80-50 BC, with severed head hanging from arch. Chris Rudd list 22, £400.	I love the imaginative imagery of Celtic coins: giants trailing decapitated heads on cords, cavalrymen charging into battle in chain-mail armour, dozens of different gods and goddesses, suns and moons, skulls and chariot wheels, thunderbolts and lightning. They are miniature masterpieces of surrealistic curvilinear art. Whichever way you view them - sideways or upside down - they always look well balanced and pleasing to the eye.	Rare gold stater of Veneti, c.100-75 BC, with severed heads attached to head of Celtic god, possibly Ogmios. Drawn by E. Hucher.
Design from silver stater of Osismii, c.75-50 BC. Severed heads are tied to the head of a Celtic god and to a human-headed horse. The boar-standard was carried into battle by Celtic warriors. Drawn by D.Allen.
Gold stater of Addedomaros, king of the Trinovantes, c.45-20 BC. Starfish spiral combines solar and lunar imagery. Chris Rudd list 40, £600.	I love the amazing menagerie of creatures on Celtic coins: bears, boars, bulls, butterflies, cocks, crabs, cranes, dogs, dolphins, ducks, eagles, hares, all kinds of horses - some with wings, some with human heads, some with three tails or three phalli, some breathing flames - goats, lions, lizards, owls, rams, rats, ravens, shrimps, snakes, stags, starfish, worms and wolves. Plus centaurs, dragons, griffins, horse-dogs, sea-horses, sphinxes and ram-horned serpents.	Norfolk Wolf gold stater of the Eceni, c.54-50 BC. Perched on the wolf's rump is a bird. Chris Rudd list 30, £650.

Rare bronze of Cunobelin, c.AD10-43, with Celtic sun-god Belenus 'the shining one,' after whom Beltaine is named. Cunobelin means 'hound of Belenus.' Chris Rudd list 19, £850.

Rare silver unit of Commios, c.50-40 BC, king of the Atrebates and former ally of Julius Caesar. Nose of phallic face is in mouth of larger head. Found near Chichester, 8 April 1995. Chris Rudd list 17, £400.

Norfolk God silver unit of the Eceni, c.30-10 BC, formerly attributed to Queen Boudica. Head of Celtic war-god with boar-skin headdress, based on Roman denarius with Juno Sospita wearing goat-skin headdress. Chris Rudd list 40, £250.

I love the mythic mystery of Celtic coins. When I look closely at this late Iron Age money I catch glimpses of long-lost legends and ancient pagan rituals, such as head hunting, divination, bull sacrificing and shape-shifting. I marvel at the plethora of occult signs and arcane symbols. I feel the power of Druid priests who probably influenced many of the designs on Celtic coins.
Head of Andraste, the war-goddess worshipped by Queen Boudica, with ram-headed snake. Rare silver unit of Eceni, c.50-40 BC. Chris Rudd list 41, £400.	Rare gold stater of Tasciovanos, king of the Catuvellauni, c.20BC-AD10. Found at Rushden, Northants, July 1995. Chris Rudd list 29, £2000.
I love the hidden humour of Celtic coins. On this gold stater of Tasciovanos no less than six hidden faces are visible, some glad, some sad. How many can you see? Robert Van Arsdell writes: 'A hidden face on an Ancient British stater has eluded numismatists for two hundred years. Tasciovanus hid the face on his staters and it took me only seven years of owning one of them to see it. Celtic artists liked to hide faces on their artwork. They had a fine appreciation for the surreal. They loved now-you-see-it-now-you-don't images. The art tied in with their religion. Things are not what they seem. Behind everyday scenes lurk unseen forces manipulating the action.' I love the astonishing heads of Celtic coins. They are unlike any other heads you see on any other coins - stronger, stranger, wilder, weirder, more fantastic, more surrealistic - and demonstrate the importance of the head in Celtic religion. Anne Ross says: "The Celts venerated the head as a symbol of divinity and the powers of the otherworld, and regarded it as the most important bodily member, the very seat of the soul."

I love the unpredictability of Celtic coins. Even after 47 years of intimacy, they are constantly surprising me. Attributions, names and dates are always being revised. Not long ago the Coritani tribe was renamed Corieltauvi. In 1996 King Tincommios was renamed Tincomarus 'the big fish'. Almost every month new types and variants keep leaping out of the ground. For example, in 1998 I published twelve newly discovered types in my catalogue, all previously unrecorded.	In 1995 Chris Rudd published this silver coin of 'Tincommios' with a legend that seemed to read TINCOMMRDVS. In 1996 the Alton hoard revealed that it was actually Tincomarus.
I love the uncommon scarcity of Celtic coins. Ask any metal detectorist how many Celtic coins he has found and you'll immediately realise that they are much rarer than Roman coins - at least a thousand times rarer on average. This is because far fewer coins were minted, in much smaller runs, over a much shorter timespan. Though some may have been cast as early as 100 BC, the majority of British Celtic coins were struck between 54 BC and AD 43 - barely 100 years of production, and most of that was sporadic.
Celtic coins are rarer than Greek and Roman because fewer were made over a shorter period

Rare gold stater of the Dobunni, c.AD10-25, inscribed ANTED RIC, 'Antedios the king.' Found at Hereford, 1989. Chris Rudd list 19, £1500. Rare gold stater of Tasciovanos. Cavalryman holds Celtic war trumpet. Found at Chelmsford, Essex, 1995. Chris Rudd list 20, £550

Finally, I love the galloping good value of this horsey money. Their greater rarity doesn’t mean that Celtic coins are costlier than other ancient coins. In fact, they are often cheaper. For example, a very fine British Celtic gold stater typically costs less than half the price of a Greek gold stater, Roman aureus or English gold noble of comparable quality and rarity. Rare Celtic gold stater of Cunobelin, only two known, extremely fine. Chris Rudd list 27, £2000. Rare Roman gold aureus of Postumus, only two known, extremely fine. Italo Vecchi sale 16, £15,000. You can still buy top-quality Celtic coins at a fraction of the cost of other top-quality ancient coins.

But the disparity is diminishing as more and more collectors are appreciating the untamed beauty and undervalued scarcity of Celtic coins. Ask for a free copy of my fully-illustrated Celtic catalogue, issued 12 times a year, and start exploring the extraordinary world of Celtic coins.