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Æ
| Issuer | Melita (Sicily) |
|---|---|
| Year | 218 BC - 175 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Ram's head facing right in three-quarter view, rendered with considerable detail including the curling horn, eye, and fleece. The type occupies the central field within a dotted border running along the coin's circumference. A brief Punic inscription appears in the lower field beneath the ram's head, identifying the issuing authority of Melita. The bold, plastic modeling of the animal type reflects the influence of Punic artistic conventions on the local coinage. |
| Reverse script | Punic |
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| Additional information |
Melita — modern Malta — occupied an awkward strategic position during the Second Punic War, sitting squarely between Carthaginian and Roman spheres of influence. The island had passed under Roman control in 218 BC, the very year Hannibal crossed the Alps, and its bronze coinage from this period reflects a community negotiating a new political reality while retaining enough civic autonomy to strike its own issues. The local Punic cultural substrate remained strong; Maltese bronzes of this period are among the few western Mediterranean civic issues that straddle both worlds without cleanly belonging to either.