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Æ15

Issuer Carthage
Year 400 BC - 350 BC
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Composition Bronze
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Reverse description A horse standing to the right in a proud, alert posture, rendered in a schematic yet vigorous Punic style characteristic of early Carthaginian bronzes. The horse, a prominent symbol of Carthaginian power and the deity Baal Hammon, is depicted with a well-defined body and four clearly articulated legs. A palm tree or its vestigial remnant may appear in the upper field to the right. The field is plain and unlettered, and the coin's irregular flan results in partial peripheral loss of the design.
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Edge Plain
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Additional information

Carthage's earliest bronze issues remain poorly understood in terms of precise dating, and this piece falls within the window when the city was transitioning away from near-total reliance on Sicilian Greek coinage to fund its military operations in Sicily. The bronze small module series to which this belongs was likely produced for local civilian exchange rather than troop payment — mercenaries expected silver.

MAA 18a places this among the earliest Carthaginian civic bronzes, a classification still debated in the literature.