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Tetradrachm
| Issuer | Uncertain Siculo-Punic mint (Punic Sicily) |
|---|---|
| Year | 350 BC - 320 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Tetradrachm (4) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Female head in three-quarter left-facing profile, identified as the nymph Arethusa or Persephone, rendered in the fine Sicilian style derived from Syracusan prototypes. The effigy displays elaborately dressed, flowing hair bound with a wreath of laurel or grain, with richly modeled curling locks cascading behind the neck. A necklace of beads is visible at the base of the throat, and the drapery is indicated at the truncation of the bust. The fleshy, idealised facial features reflect the accomplished engraving traditions of late 4th-century BC Sicily. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Forepart of a horse with a bridle, depicted in right-facing profile with bold, naturalistic modelling characteristic of Punic Sicilian coinage. The horse's mane is rendered in short, incised strokes, and its mouth is open. To the left of the horse's neck stands a tall palm tree, a canonical Punic symbol emblematic of Carthaginian identity and frequently employed as a mint mark on Siculo-Punic issues. The field is otherwise plain, and no legend is present, consistent with the aniconic epigraphic tradition of this series. |
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| Additional information |
The Siculo-Punic tetradrachms of this period were struck by Carthaginian military authorities to pay mercenary troops operating in Sicily during decades of grinding conflict with Syracuse. The coins were functionally a payroll instrument, produced at mobile or semi-permanent field mints whose precise locations remain disputed — Jenkins's attribution of this group to a single uncertain Sicilian mint reflects that ambiguity rather than resolving it.
Jenkins Group P3 represents a relatively late phase of the series, when Punic engravers had absorbed enough Greek technical influence to produce work competitive with Syracusan output. Attribution relies primarily on die-linkage studies rather than findspot evidence.