Shekel Bronze, with Punic letter 𐤔

Struck during the First Punic War, when Carthage was simultaneously funding a land army in Sicily and contesting Roman naval dominance at sea — a financial strain that forced the city to issue bronze coinage on an unprecedented scale. The Punic letter 𐤔 (shin) likely functioned as a mint or batch control mark, helping military paymasters track disbursements across a conflict that lasted 23 years and ended with Carthage ceding Sicily entirely under the Treaty of Lutatius.