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⅜ Stater
| Issuer | Carthage |
|---|---|
| Year | 220 BC - 210 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Electrum |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse description | A horse standing in profile to the right with its left foreleg raised in a prancing posture, rendered in a naturalistic Hellenistic style typical of Carthaginian coinage of the late third century BC. The animal's musculature is crisply articulated, with a flowing mane and tail, the body well-proportioned within the confines of the irregular flan. The ground line is implied rather than explicitly engraved, and the field is otherwise plain. The horse motif, a central symbol of Carthaginian power and the North African cavalry tradition, occupies the majority of the reverse die. |
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| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | ND (220 BC - 210 BC) |
| Additional information |
Carthaginian electrum issues of this period fall squarely within the Second Punic War, when Hannibal's Italian campaign demanded extraordinary military financing. Carthage had long used electrum coinage — an alloy it could not fully control for consistency — primarily to pay mercenary troops, whose wages had already sparked the catastrophic Mercenary War of 241–238 BC. The fractional denominations were particularly suited to small-scale soldier pay and local Sicilian and North African transactions.
The electrum alloy in Carthaginian issues varies noticeably in gold-to-silver ratio across dies, likely reflecting ad hoc sourcing rather than a fixed mint standard.