Catalog
Æ15
| Issuer | Carthage |
|---|---|
| Year | 350 BC |
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| Currency | Shekel |
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| Obverse description | Bare male head facing left, rendered in Punic-Hellenistic style with curly hair, flanked on either side by a prominent grain ear rising diagonally from behind the neck toward the upper field, the whole evoking agricultural abundance characteristic of Carthaginian civic coinage. The portrait is executed in moderately high relief with no legend or border visible in the field. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Horse galloping to the right in full stride, depicted in profile with all four legs extended and tail flowing behind, rendered in a lively Punic-Hellenistic style typical of Carthaginian bronzes of the mid-fourth century BC. The horse occupies the central field against a plain, unadorned background with no exergual line or legend present. |
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| Additional information |
Carthage struck bronze coinage relatively late compared to its Sicilian neighbors, adopting the practice largely through contact with Greek minting traditions during the intense military campaigns of the late fifth and early fourth centuries BC. These small bronzes circulated primarily in Sicily and North Africa as Carthage expanded its monetary economy to pay mercenary troops and facilitate trade in contested territories. The specific series to which this piece belongs has been associated with Carthaginian mints operating in western Sicily rather than Carthage proper — a detail still debated among specialists working from hoard evidence.