Stater

Carthaginian gold staters of this period were almost certainly struck to pay mercenary forces — Libyan, Iberian, Campanian, and Greek soldiers who would not accept promises in place of metal. The Sicilian wars against Syracuse drove enormous demand for coined gold, and Carthage had no deep tradition of civic coinage before military necessity created one. These staters circulated primarily as wage payments, not commercial currency.

J&L 14 places this among the earlier Carthaginian gold issues, before the series standardized under more controlled military finance in the late 4th century.