These bronzes were struck during one of the most chaotic episodes in Sardinian history — the Mercenary War, when unpaid Carthaginian soldiers stationed on the island mutinied following Carthage's defeat in the First Punic War. The island's Punic administration continued issuing coinage through the upheaval, but Roman intervention in 238 BC effectively ended Carthaginian control when Rome exploited the crisis to annex Sardinia outright, in flagrant violation of the peace terms agreed just three years earlier.
The window of issue is narrow: three years at most, possibly far fewer functional minting months given the political collapse underway.
These bronzes were struck during one of the most chaotic episodes in Sardinian history — the Mercenary War, when unpaid Carthaginian soldiers stationed on the island mutinied following Carthage's defeat in the First Punic War. The island's Punic administration continued issuing coinage through the upheaval, but Roman intervention in 238 BC effectively ended Carthaginian control when Rome exploited the crisis to annex Sardinia outright, in flagrant violation of the peace terms agreed just three years earlier.
The window of issue is narrow: three years at most, possibly far fewer functional minting months given the political collapse underway.