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Stater - Carthage
| Issuer | Carthage (Zeugitana) |
|---|---|
| Year | 310 BC - 290 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 7.53 g |
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| Obverse description | Draped bust of Tanit facing left, rendered in fine Hellenistic style with elaborately waved and curled hair swept back and secured with a wreath or band, the locks falling in pronounced waves across the crown. The goddess wears a beaded necklace and a prominent pendant earring of elongated drop form, with a second stud visible at the lobe. A dotted border encircles the field. The portraiture is of exceptionally high artistic quality, reflecting the strong Sicilian Greek influence on Carthaginian coinage of this period. |
|---|---|
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| Mintage | ND (310 BC - 290 BC) |
| Additional information |
These electrum staters were struck in Sicily during — or immediately following — the invasion of Agathocles of Syracuse, who crossed into North Africa in 310 BC and brought war directly to Carthaginian territory for the first time. The emergency conditions of that conflict almost certainly drove accelerated coin production; Carthage needed to pay mercenary troops, and mercenaries demanded hard metal.
The electrum itself was not mined locally — Carthage imported gold from sub-Saharan trade routes through the Sahara and likely alloyed it at the mint. Natural electrum composition varied, and die studies by Jenkins and Lewis revealed enough alloy inconsistency across the series to suggest multiple melting batches rather than a single controlled mint run.