Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Quadrans - Syphax Western Numidia, pointing beard, horseman right
| Issuer | Numidia |
|---|---|
| Year | 213 BC - 203 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 4.4 g |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | A horseman galloping to the left, depicted in the energetic Hellenistic equestrian tradition common to Numidian and Punic bronze coinage; the horse is shown at full stride with all four legs extended. Beneath the horse, a Punic legend enclosed within a linear cartouche identifies the issuing authority, accompanied by a pellet or dot serving as a denominational or decorative mark. The reverse flan is likewise irregular in outline, consistent with the crude hammered fabric of this provincial issue. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | SphQ HMMLKT (Translation: Syphax King) |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Syphax ruled the Masaesyli tribe of western Numidia and spent much of his reign playing Rome against Carthage with calculated opportunism — at various points allied to both. During the Second Punic War he ultimately sided with Carthage, taking Sophonisba as his wife in a match brokered by Hasdrubal Gisco. That decision ended badly: he was captured by Scipio Africanus and Masinissa at the Battle of the Great Plains in 203 BC, the very year this coinage series closes.
The "var." designation against GCV 6632 likely reflects beard typology — the pointing beard being a documented die variant within Syphax's bronze issues.