Catalog
Octans
| Issuer | Gadir (Punic Iberia) |
|---|---|
| Year | 100 BC - 20 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Hammered |
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| Obverse description | Fish depicted facing right within an irregular circular field, rendered in low relief characteristic of Gadiric bronze coinage. The fish motif, likely a tuna or similar pelagic species, is shown in profile with a single pellet representing the eye. The surrounding flan is rough and irregular, consistent with the small hammered bronze issues of the Punic mint at Gadir. No legend or inscription is present on this side. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse lettering | 𐤂𐤃𐤓 |
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| Additional information |
Gadir — modern Cádiz — was among the oldest Phoenician foundations in the western Mediterranean, and its autonomous bronze issues persisted well into the Roman provincial period through sheer commercial inertia. The octans, representing one-eighth of an as, was the lowest practical denomination the city struck, circulating primarily in local market transactions as Roman monetary integration steadily eroded the relevance of Punic civic coinage.
Production likely ceased around the Augustan reorganization of Hispanian coinage, when Gadir was refounded as the Roman municipium Augusta Urbs Julia Gaditana.