Stater

Carthaginian electrum staters of this type were almost certainly struck to pay mercenary troops during the campaigns in Sicily — specifically the wars against Syracuse that consumed much of Carthage's military budget in the late fourth century. Carthage had no standing citizen army of consequence; it fought through hired soldiers, and coinage was often minted in direct response to campaign financing needs rather than for general circulation.

The electrum itself was not a deliberate alloy choice so much as a practical one — Carthage sourced gold through trans-Saharan trade networks where purity was variable.