1/2 Stater

Carthage's electrum coinage of this period was minted almost certainly in Sicily, likely at the mint of Lilybaeum, to fund the grinding mercenary wars the city fought against Syracuse and the native Sicilian populations. The alloy itself — a deliberately managed blend rather than natural electrum — reflects Carthaginian monetary pragmatism: gold supplies from West Africa were inconsistently available, and stretching reserves with silver was an administrative decision, not a metallurgical accident.

Müller's classification of this type placed it among issues he associated with the First Sicilian period, a attribution that remains broadly accepted though the precise mint chronology is still debated.