This Celtic coin originates from the ancient city of Byzantium, later Constantinople, today's Istanbul. The city's excellent location on the Bosporus, on the strait between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, between Europe and Asia Minor, made it a hub of international trade. It also, however, made Byzantium an object of desire. In 279 BC Celtic tribes conquered the city and forced it to pay tributes.
Byzantium paid these tributes with tetradrachms issued by Lysimachus, an early diadochus of Thrace (323-281 BC). Lysimachus had issued large numbers of coins during his reign, which as a result had become important currency in the Black Sea region.
The tetradrachms of Lysimachus were imitated by diverse towns as well as by different Celtic tribes over the next two centuries. This coin was issued in the 270's BC by a Celtic Thracian tribe.