At the auction No. 164 held by Antique Arena Inc. (USA) on June 29, 2024, a gold ornament or appliqué was offered as Lot 296, see Figure 1. This thin gold object is circular with four holes around its circumference, which were probably used to attach it to some kind of base, most likely fabric, leather or wood. The auction catalogue lists its approximate weight as 1 g and its approximate diameter as 1 inch (25.4 mm). The kneeling goat and the inscription KEΛEN on this small gold plate were apparently created by stamping the reverse of a Kelenderis stater into it. On the outer side of the plate, i.e. on the side where the relief of the image protrudes, a goat kneels to the right. The prototype was therefore most likely a coin of one of Types 2.12 and 3.7–17. Given how the goat is depicted, a variant of one of Types 3.7–8 and 3.15–16 seems most likely.

In the same auction, a similar small gold plate weighing approximately 1.6 g and measuring approximately 1 1/8 inch (28.6 mm) in diameter was offered as Lot 295, see Figure 2. While Lot 296 is photographed from both sides in the auction catalogue, Lot 295 is unfortunately photographed from only one side, and two photographs of this same side are included in the catalogue, as can be seen in Figure 2. Reliable identification of the matrix used is not as obvious here as with the Kelenderis stater, but it appears that a silver tetradrachm from Thracian Maroneia or from the island Thasos was used. These are tetradrachms minted in the 2nd to 1st centuries BC, with the head of a young Dionysos crowned with ivy and with long hair tied in a knot at the back on the obverse. Coins from Maroneia and their Celtic imitations have Dionysos standing half-left and holding grapes and narthex stalks on the reverse (BMC 3, pp. 128–129, 48–64; SNG Copenhagen 6, 637–639 and 640–642), whereas coins from Thasos and their Celtic imitations have the young naked Heracles standing with a lion skin over his left arm and a club in his right hand on the reverse (BMC 3, pp. 222–224, 67–89; SNG Copenhagen 7, 1038–1049). The depiction of long, thick, wavy curls falling onto Dionysos’ neck on this gold plate corresponds to the type represented by the specimen offered by the CGB auction house as Lot 32 in MONNAIES 26 (22 June 2006), see Figure 3. This coin may come from the Thasos mint, but it may also be a Celtic imitation, many of which were minted in the lower Danube region in varying quality.

Another example of a small gold plate with a coin imprint and holes for attaching it to some kind of base appeared as Lot 198 in auction Auction 403 held by Gerhard Hirsch Nachfolger on 10 February 2026, see Figure 4. The prototype for this object was the Phaselis silver stater from the period c. 167–130 BC (Waddington 1898, 3154), see Figure 5.

Thin gold foils with coin imprints, resembling bracteates, were sometimes placed in graves instead of real coins as Charon’s obols (Fischer-Bossert 2009, pp. 123–124). However, these so-called “ghost coins” did not have holes for attachment, unlike the three specimens presented here. Nevertheless, it cannot be ruled out that these specimens presented here served as burial gifts, although it seems more likely that they were purely decorative elements, for example on clothing or horse harnesses, or votive gifts attached somewhere in a temple.

Whatever purpose these objects served, the Kelenderis stater used as the matrix for the gold plate in Figure 1 was minted roughly two centuries before the coins used as matrices for the other two gold plates in Figures 2 and 4. It is therefore unlikely that this gold object originated at the same time as the other two, i.e., that someone still owned such Kelenderis stater in the 2nd or 1st century BC, although this cannot be ruled out. In any case, however, its existence proves (assuming it is not a modern forgery) the popularity of these Kelenderis coins.

Figure 1. Gold sheet decoration or applique, weight approx. 1 g, diameter approx. 1 in. (25.4 mm).

Figure 2. Gold sheet decoration or applique, weight approx. 1.6 g, diameter approx. 1 1/8 in. (28.6 mm).

Figure 3. Islands off Thrace, Thasos, or Celtic imitation. Weight 16.34 g, diameter 28 mm.

Figure 4. Gold sheet decoration or applique, weight 1.58 g, diameter 29 mm.

Figure 5. Lycia. Phaselis. Weight 16.82 g, diameter not stated.

Credits:
Figure 1:	Antique Arena Inc. (USA), Fine Art and Antique Estate Auction 164 (29 June 2024), Lot 296.
Figure 2:	Antique Arena Inc. (USA), Fine Art and Antique Estate Auction 164 (29 June 2024), Lot 295.
Figure 3:	CGB Numismatics Paris, MONNAIES 26 (22 June 2006), Lot 32 (acsearch.info URL).
Figure 4:	Gerhard Hirsch Nachfolger, Auction 403 (10 February 2026), Lot 198 (auction catalogue URL).
Figure 5:	Gemini, LLC, Auction IV (8 January 2008), Lot 206 (acsearch.info URL).